# Reducing Rural Disparities in Cardiac Arrest Outcomes by Standardization of Care

> **NIH NIH P20** · MAINEHEALTH · 2022 · $470,838

## Abstract

Abstract
 Patients in rural areas who suffer a cardiac arrest have had worse outcomes compared to those in urban
areas. This is due in part to socioeconomic disparities influencing the underlying risk of cardiovascular disease,
availability of emergency medical services, and transport time. In addition, little attention is paid to the workflow
of patient care after a pulse has been restored. Improving standardization of care between the time patients
arrive in the emergency department through the remainder of their care is an important opportunity to limit the
disparities seen in rural areas. The hypothesis that underlies this project is that trending risk-adjusted
outcomes over time at a state-level, combined with standardization of post-resuscitation care, will improve
outcomes for rural patients and thus decrease rural disparities across the state. This project brings together
local expertise in epidemiology, policy reform and qualitative studies to 1) determine the influence of rurality on
cardiac arrest mortality using risk-adjusted analysis of all patients treated after cardiac arrest across Maine;
and 2) develop a multi-center learning community for hyper-acute post-cardiac arrest management to measure
treatment metrics and implement standardization protocols to reduce geographical disparities. In the first aim,
we will utilize nationally available emergency medical department data to perform a risk-adjusted analysis of
statewide available data to determine how rurality affects overall outcomes across the state and identify the
variability of outcome among rural areas. In the second aim, we will develop a learning community in seven
centers across rural, regional and tertiary centers to implement established protocols for the hyper-acute
management of cardiac arrest care. We will use patient-level data to determine baseline and subsequent
benchmark data and measure how this changes over time, while taking into consideration regional resources
and differences in health care systems. The completion of this project is a critical step in achieving the long-
term goal of creating a method to improve systems of care for the state of Maine that can be replicated in other
rural states, which will reduce rural health disparities related to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
 This project is led by Dr. Teresa May, a junior clinical researcher with a background in critical care and
neurocritical care who recently completed KL2 training where she studied in-hospital aspects of post-cardiac
arrest care. With strong mentorship in the areas of rural health research, complex survey designs, data
analysis (Y. Jonk) and increasing access to clinical trials in rural areas and implementation science research
(R. Kramer), she is well positioned to succeed. This project represents a unique opportunity for Dr. May to
develop experience in data-driven development of multi-center learning communities to standardize and
improve efficiency of post-resuscitation care. P...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10348680
- **Project number:** 5P20GM139745-02
- **Recipient organization:** MAINEHEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Teresa May
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $470,838
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-02-10 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10348680

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10348680, Reducing Rural Disparities in Cardiac Arrest Outcomes by Standardization of Care (5P20GM139745-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10348680. Licensed CC0.

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