About me
Amie Hsia, MD, is a board-certified vascular neurologist and medical director of the MedStar Washington Hospital Center Comprehensive Stroke Center, Professor of Neurology at Georgetown University Medical Center, principal investigator of the NIH Stroke Program at MedStar Washington, and co-principal investigator of the NIH-funded StrokeNet regional coordinating center - Stroke Capital Area Network for Research (SCANR).
Dr. Hsia received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical degree from Duke University. She completed her neurology residency at Stanford University, where she also served as chief resident. She remained at Stanford for her fellowship training in stroke and neurocritical care.
Born and raised in the D.C. metropolitan area, Dr. Hsia returned to Washington for the opportunity to provide advanced stroke care to area residents. Dr. Hsia serves as an advocate of the Greater Washington Region American Heart and Stroke Association to support governmental policies related to stroke care. She is a founding member and was the first physician chair of the D.C. Stroke Collaborative, working to improve the level of stroke care through collaboration among the D.C. hospitals and EMS. With the NIH Stroke Program, she works on developing and evaluating acute stroke treatments with advanced neuroimaging.
To extend efforts beyond the D.C. boundaries, she spearheaded the development of a stroke telemedicine network, to provide emergency expert stroke consultation for hospitals in the surrounding communities using this technology, and to expand patient access to the opportunity to participate in ongoing clinical trials of acute stroke therapies.
Research:
Area: Acute Stroke – Use of Multimodal MRI
Developing and evaluating the effects of acute stroke treatments using multimodal MRI to optimize patient selection, increase understanding of stroke pathophysiology, and predict and improve outcomes.
Area: Acute Stroke – Systems of Care
Improving stroke systems of care within individual hospitals and across a community/region. Advance science and disseminate knowledge in acute stroke care delivery.
Area: Acute Stroke – Racial Disparities in Stroke Care
Evaluating and reducing the barriers to acute stroke treatment in underserved urban communities.
Clinical areas of focus
- Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
- Cerebrovascular Disorders
- Hemorrhagic Stroke
- Ischemic Stroke
- Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA)
Conditions and procedures
Conditions I treat
- Carotid Stenosis
- Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis
- Cerebral Arteritis
- Cerebral Atherosclerosis
- Cerebral Hemorrhage
- Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis
- Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
- Cerebrovascular Disorders
- Cerebrovascular Insufficiency
- Dissection Carotid Artery
- Dissection Of Vertebral Artery
- Hemorrhagic Stroke
- Intracranial Arterial Occlusion
- Intracranial Artery Stenosis
- Intracranial Hemorrhage
- Ischemic Stroke
- Lacunar Stroke
- Moyamoya
- Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA)
- Vertebral Artery Stenosis
- Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency
Insurance
MedStar Health accepts most major health insurance plans. If you are uncertain as to whether your individual health insurance plan is accepted at MedStar Health, please call your insurance company.
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List of insurance plans we accept
- Choice Care Network/HUMANA (PPO)
- Cigna HMO & Network (HMO)
- Carefirst EPO
- Kaiser Signature
- Aetna Open HMO/Open HMO Option/Open EPO Plus
- HumanaChoice PPO
- United Choice
- Innovation Health: Open POS II
- Cigna Choice Fund PPO
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (POS)
- Cigna HMO Open Access
- HealthyBlue PPO
- Aetna HMO
- CareFirst Blue Card Program (Out-of-area BCBS plans)
- United Select HMO - EPO/NPP
- Anthem Plus BCBS of VA HealthKeepers Plus
- Cigna POS/Network POS
- Aetna Choice POS & Choice POS II
- Veterans Affairs Community Care Network (VA CCN)
- WellPoint Maryland - Maryland Health Choice
- United Nursing Home Plan (C-SNP
- CareFirst MedStar Select PPO
- Innovation Health: Indemnity
- I-SNP
- United Select Plus (POS)
- Kaiser Select-Added Choice
- Aetna Managed Choice Open Access (POS)
- Innovation Health: Network Only Plus
- Kaiser Select
- Tricare Reserve Select
- Medicaid - District of Columbia
- Cigna Network Open Access
- Kaiser Permanente Signature-Added Choice
- UnitedHealthcare Individual Exchange Plans
- United MD IPA (HMO)
- United Student Resources
- Aetna Select HMO/HealthFund/Health Network
- Innovation Health: PPO
- United Community Plan - Maryland Health Choice Program
- Kaiser HMO Plus and DHMO Plus Member
- Aetna Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO Plans
- Aetna Open Choice (PPO)
- HumanaChoice Honor’s plan PPO
- Innovation Health: POS Plus
- Beech Street PPO
- Aetna HealthFund/Health Network Option OA
- Innovation Health: Open POS Plus
- D-SNP)
- Innovation Health: POS
- Innovation Health: Open Network Only Plus
- United MD IPA Preferred (POS)
- Anthem HMO - BCBS of VA HealthKeepers
- Tricare East Prime
- Police and Fire Clinic
- Aetna Managed Choice (POS)
- Aetna HMO-Open Access/Select OA
- Aetna Elect Choice/ EPO (Aetna Health Fund)
- Tricare for Life East
- CareFirst MedStar PPO
- Cigna EPO
- CareFirst Maryland Indemnity or PPO
- Carefirst BlueChoice Opt Out Plus Open Access (POS)
- Health Services for Children with Special Needs (HSCSN)
- Anthem (POS & Open Access POS) BCBS of VA HealthKeepers
- Aetna Signature Administrator PPO/TPA
- Cigna Indemnity
- Carefirst BlueChoice Opt Out Open Access
- United Optimum Choice
- Innovation Health: HMO & EPO Plus
- Tricare East Select
- United Erickson Advantage Plans
- Private Health Care Systems (PHCS) (PPO)
- Medicaid - Virginia
- Cigna TotalCare (HMO D-SNP)
- CareFirst BC/BS Advantage Core/Enhanced
- Maryland Point of Service Plan (MPOS)
- United AARP Medicare Complete
- MedStar Family Choice DC Healthcare Alliance
- United Navigate
- Traditional Medicare Fee for Service
- Cigna Alliance Medicare (HMO) |
- Kaiser Flexible Choice
- CareFirst NASCO
- United Medicare Advantage DSNP District of Columbia
- Cigna True Choice Plus Medicare (PPO)
- CareFirst Group Medicare Advantage prescription drug benefit (PPO)
- Cigna Preferred Medicare
- Cigna POS Open Access & Open Access Plus
- United GEHA (for all other states) Compass Rose
- United Choice Plus
- MedStar Family Choice DC Healthy Families
- WellPoint Maryland
- Cigna Achieve Medicare (HMO C-SNP)
- United Golden Rule
- Aetna Student Health Insurance
- Aetna Elect Choice/ Open Access (POS)
- Kaiser Medicare Advantage Signature and Select
- Kaiser Maryland Medicaid MCO
- Carefirst Healthy Blue (HMO/POS)
- United Group Medicare Advantage Plans
- Federal Employee Program (Std/Basic PPO/Blue Focus)
- CareFirst (NCA) Indemnity
- Kaiser Medicare Plus
- United Core Essential (HMO)
- Aetna Traditional Choice (PPO)
- Carefirst BlueChoice HMO
- CareFirst Administrators
- CareFirst Group Medicare Advantage
- Virginia Premier
- United Mamsi Life & Health
- Veterans Affairs Community Care Network
- United Optimum Choice Preferred (POS) & OCI Direct (HMO)
- United Options (PPO) (includes Empire PPO)
- Carefirst Blue Preferred PPO
- Cigna True Choice Medicare (PPO)
- Cigna PPO and PPO Plus
- Medicaid - Maryland
- Carefirst BlueChoice Open Access
- Coventry Health Care National Network PPO
- Coventry Health Care of Virginia
- Coventry of Delaware HMO/PPO
- Great-West Healthcare POS/CIGNA
- MedStar Family Choice - Maryland Health Choice
- First Health PPO
Videos
Education
Fellowship: Stanford Medicine (2004)
Residency: ValleyCare-Stanford Health Care (2002)
Graduate: Duke University Fuqua School of Business (1998)
Awards
- NIH/NINDS Director’s Group Merit Award 2020 For a continued commitment to provide outstanding NIH/NINDS Stroke clinical care despite challenges of COVID-19 pandemic
- Castle Connolly Exceptional Women in Medicine: 2019, 2020
- District of Columbia Hospital Association Commitment to Excellence Award 2016 Presented to the MWHC Comprehensive Stroke Center team for demonstrating commitment to providing leadership and support for patients, staff, and the hospital
- MedStar Washington Hospital Center Board of Directors Program Excellence Award 2015 Presented to the Comprehensive Stroke Center; one of 3 MedStar Washington programs awarded
- American Heart Association/American Stroke Association – Greater Washington Region Advocate of the Year Award 2014, 2015
- Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctors (Neurology): 2013
- District of Columbia Hospital Association Patient Safety Award 2010
Hospital affiliations
News and publications
Scientific American (2016): Stroke Study Sparks Call for Revamping Emergency Care Plan
NIH: A SMARTer approach to stroke care
Neurology Journal Podcast: June 16, 2015 issue: SMART Study
MedStar Washington Hospital Center Named Region’s First Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center
WTOP (2012): Stroke: The other cardiovascular disease
Washington Post (2011): Study in D.C. hospitals reveals disparity in stroke treatment for blacks
Complete list of published work in My Bibliography:
Select publications:
- Prevalence of Imaging Targets in Patients with Minor Stroke Selected for IV tPA Treatment Using MRI: The Treatment of Minor Stroke with MRI Evaluation Study (TIMES) [Neurology]
- Temporally distinct myeloid cell responses mediate damage and repair after cerebrovascular injury [Nature Neuroscience]
- Rapid ADC evolution after early revascularization: A potential marker of secondary injury? [Stroke]
- Intravenous thrombolysis in unwitnessed stroke onset: MR WITNESS trial results [Annals of Neurology]
- Building Better Systems for Stroke: The Time Is Now [JAMA Neurology]
- Effects of Increasing IV tPA-treated stroke mimic rates at CT-based centers on clinical outcomes [Neurology]
- Screening with MRI for Accurate and Rapid Stroke Treatment: SMART [Neurology]
- Negative Diffusion Weighted Imaging after IV tPA is rare and unlikely to indicate averted infarction [Stroke]
- Racial Disparities in tissue plasminogen activator treatment rate for stroke. A population-based study [Stroke]
- Understanding Reasons for Delay in Seeking Acute Stroke Care in an Underserved Urban Population [Stroke]