A new American Heart Association scientific statement provides guidance on staffing, leadership and resource requirements for hospital stroke centres, with the intention of reducing variability and improving quality of care at stroke centres across the USA. US stroke centres are certified by several different agencies at four levels: acute stroke-ready hospitals, primary stroke centres, thrombectomy-capable stroke centres and comprehensive stroke centres.

Patients in Switzerland with supplementary private health insurance are more likely to undergo cardiac procedures than those with only basic health insurance. While health insurers pay for treatments for basic insurance policyholders with a flat fee per case, hospitals can charge people with supplementary insurance additional fees, which in part benefit the medical staff. A team of researchers from the University of Basel and the Cantonal Hospital of Aarau investigated whether insurance status is correlated with any difference in cardiovascular interventions in Switzerland.