Table 3

Sub Categories of Identified Barriers External to the Individual Provider

Environmental Factors

n

Patient Factors

n

Radiology

195

Delayed presentation

92

-Access to scanner

43

Symptom recognition - patients/family

50

-Acute stroke communication

79

Family issues

15

-Interpretation confidence

51

Language

5

Limited neurology

108

Adverse to taking ambulance

5

ED overcrowding

54

Demand for tPA

4

Laboratory

49

Age of population

2

EMS

46

-Hospital notification

4

-Speed

9

-Symptom recognition

16

Pharmacy and drug Delivery

39

Liability

39

Lack of a protocol

38

Triage

36

Difficulty arranging for transfer

31

Inpatient/ICU Bed Availability

26

Limited neurosurgery

24

Lack of follow up feedback

18

Geography

14

Financial issues

9

Transfer from clinics

6

Inaccurate patient weight

4

External barriers that were categorized into themes. The numbers represent the total number of times these items were discussed as a barrier (within the coding unit or paragraph of a transcript). For example, four separate paragraphs had reference to the inaccurate patient weight barrier. This could have been four separate responses from one participant or four separate responses from four participants. Since each paragraph could be assigned anywhere from zero to nine major themes, and an unlimited number of minor themes there is no total or denominator for the coded responses.

Meurer et al. BMC Emergency Medicine 2011 11:5   doi:10.1186/1471-227X-11-5