Specialists On Call, Inc. (SOC) www.specialistsoncall.com now have a turn-key operational platform available to hospitals, clinics, and health systems that enables them to build a telemedicine program using their own physicians.
By using this system, clients can now rapidly deploy a proven and scalable telemedicine capability without having the upfront expense or risk of building an internal platform from the ground up.
Based on client requirements, hospitals may choose to use only internal physicians or a combination of internal and SOC physicians to bring flexibility to hospitals seeking to optimize existing clinical resources while deploying a telemedicine solution.
North Alabama Neuro-Stroke Network, an initiative led by Huntsville Hospital Health System has recently been using the SOS solution to treat stroke patients in three facilities across North Alabama. The telestroke system enables neurologists in Huntsville to see and talk to a patient in real time www.huntsvillehospital.org/North-Alaabama-neuro-stroke-network.
They are able to review their CT scan images and collaborate with the emergency room doctors and nurses on a treatment plan. By examining patients remotely, the neurologists can make a more informed decision on whether to bring the person to Huntsville or let them receive care closer to home.
University of New Mexico (UNM) Hospital’s http://hospitals.unm.edu, neuro-critical team provides care to stroke patients using a catheter device to mechanically extract clots. This procedure endorsed by the American Heart Association and others, rapidly restores blood flow and leads to dramatically better outcomes.
The catheter device requires choreography among paramedics, emergency room imaging specialists, and interventional radiologists so that treatment can start within an hour of a patient’s arrival.
A key element to providing this new treatment for stroke patients is the use of ACCESS http://hscnews.unm.edu/news, a cerebrovascular consult service. This service electronically links emergency rooms throughout the state with UNM neurosurgeons, enabling them to review the CT scans of stroke patients to determine if they would benefit from the procedure.
To help stroke patients in Georgia in hospitals and pre-hospital settings, the Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/stroke_registry.htm with funding from CDC www.cdc.gov was implemented into Georgia’s Department of Public Health.
Benefits for participating in the registry include monthly registry-wide telephone conference calls with participating hospitals, EMS agencies, and staff, annual training workshops, resources and mentoring for hospitals needing specific stroke related information, and help for hospitals to develop protocols to guide clinical care on how to utilize effective stroke management.