Question: PSC Certified Hospitals: Sampling Methodology to Use for CSTK 1 for 2019

For a PSC Certified Hospital that is presently sampling, is there a sampling methodology that should be followed for CSTK-01 NIHSS? Can the STK sampling methodology be used since it is a PSC Certified Hospital? Is there an area within the 2019 manual that describes the methodology to be used?

Answer:

There are different sampling methodologies for the STK and CSTK measures. Please refer to the CSTK_List PDF document in the specifications manual for the methodology to use for CSTK-01.

CSTK-01 is comprised of 2 sub-populations; Subpopulation 1 Ischemic Stroke Patients Without a Reperfusion Procedure and Subpopulation 2 Ischemic Stroke Patients With IV/IA t-Pa or a Mechanical Reperfusion Procedure. If stroke patient discharge volume for the reporting month allows for sampling from both sub-populations, then the MINIMUM SAMPLE SIZE requirement is 28 records, i.e., 14 records from EACH subpopulation.

Thank you for your inquiry.