TeleStroke Services & Emergent TeleNeurology Program
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TeleSpecialists is proud to be a leader in TeleStroke and Emergent TeleNeurology services. Every second counts during a stroke, and an on-call TeleStroke neurologist with TeleSpecialists can be connected directly to the Emergency Department via telemedicine in an average of four minutes. Rapid reaction time and treatment can dramatically improve patient outcomes and ultimately save lives. Our TeleStroke solution brings extensive clinical stroke experience from highly trained TeleNeurologists directly to your healthcare facility via telemedicine.
What Is TeleStroke
TeleStroke is the process of virtually examining a suspected stroke patient over video. The goal of TeleStroke services is to quickly evaluate and treat patients to improve the hospital’s reaction time and patient’s outcome.
Time is of the essence when saving brain cells. Emergency acute stroke support with our TeleStroke services can save lives and allow for better outcomes. Hospital neurologists are at a premium, with neurology as one of the country’s most understaffed medical fields. This shortage puts stroke patients at risk of not seeing a neurologist in time. TeleSpecialists provides focused emergent neurology services, including TeleMedicine for stroke, to hospitals across the United States — anytime, anywhere.
We seamlessly integrate our TeleNeurologists with your hospital’s stroke and ED team to create a streamlined and effective TeleStroke response. TeleStroke Alert services ensure rapid assessment and treatment for EMS stroke patients. With prearrival Stroke Alert notification, ED staff can mobilize and contact TeleSpecialists so that a TeleStroke response is available almost as soon as EMS brings the patient in. This capability places a board-certified, stroke-trained neurologist on-screen at the patient’s bedside in an average of four minutes. Patients who receive rapid triage and treatment regularly experience drastically improved outcomes and higher quality of life.
This sample was taken from a hospital division that went live with TeleStroke services in seven of their hospitals. Most locations averaged at least a 50% drop in DTN time.
How TeleStroke Works
While our TeleStroke program can be adjusted to fit your hospital’s needs, here is an example of TeleStroke applications and how virtual stroke services for healthcare facilities can work for you:
- If an EMS patient is presenting with stroke symptoms, the hospital staff calls the TeleSpecialists Rapid Response Center. A physician will be on-screen in an average of five minutes, providing immediate access to a neurology consult.
- As ED staff prepares for an incoming Stroke Alert, the charge nurse retrieves the TeleNeuro cart to meet the patient in the EMS hallway. This step allows a TeleNeurologist to continue to follow the patient throughout the entire Stroke Alert, providing a remote evaluation of acute stroke patients.
- EMS reports to the ED nurse, physician, and TeleNeurologist via the TeleNeuro cart.
- The ED physician performs a brief exam, which is observed by the TeleNeurologist. Both physicians confer and agree to proceed as Stroke Alert with the goal of rapid progression to CT.
- The patient is swiftly transferred to CT while the ED physician enters Stroke Alert orders for Stat CT of the brain under the Stroke Alert protocol.
- Stroke Alert ensures a radiologist is tagged and the patient receives priority reading status.
- The TeleNeurologist can view the CT in real time and make recommendations.
- The radiologist, TeleNeurologist, and ED physician discuss the CT results, and a decision is made to give an IV injection of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Improving Door-to-Needle time for stroke patients is key to recovery.
- Nursing takes the premixed tPA. Two nurses verify the dosing, and tPA begins.
- A nurse assists the TeleNeurologist, and a focused neuro exam and full NIHSS is performed.
- The ED physician, TeleNeurologist, and ED staff continue with an in-depth neuro assessment, decision on tPA administration, and transitioning the patient to the inpatient setting.
Emergent TeleStroke Services
TeleSpecialists was founded on the principles of lean management and a focus on developing protocols to provide seamless acute neurology response, among other benefits. During implementation of our TeleStroke services, we identify and coach your team of TeleStroke program stakeholders, which may consist of representatives from EMS, ED nursing leadership, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Radiology, Rapid Response, Staff Neurologists, and Stroke Coordinators. Together, we build a state-of-the-art TeleStroke and Emergent TeleNeurology program within your hospital’s infrastructure, with our neurologists responding to Stroke Alerts and other STAT neurology consults, including acute encephalopathy, syncope, Bell’s palsy, and acute altered mental status.
VALUE
- Increase percentage of Door-To-Needle times below 45 minutes.
- Increase alteplase utilization rates, up to 20%.
- Improve patient retention.
- Increase regional market share and improve regional reputation.
QUALITY
- TeleSpecialists provides clinical programmatic support beyond teleconferencing and recommendations. Our TeleNeurologists take charge of the Stroke Alert consult, writing orders directly into your EMR, and staying on screen through the administering of alteplase.
- Implementation of the acute care protocols and criteria for administration of alteplase.
- Extensive educational modules for a state-of-the-art program.
- Implementation of order sets and protocols to meet the “Get with the Guidelines” metrics established by the American Stroke Association.
- TeleSpecialists utilizes lean management principles: a process improvement methodology that focuses on removing ‘waste’ from a process and solving problems through the application of a standardized workflow.
- TeleSpecialists earned accreditation from The Joint Commission in December of 2019.
- TeleSpecialists is the only telemedicine company to earn the ISO 9001:2015 certification, issued through Bureau Veritas.
EFFICIENCY
- The TeleSpecialists program creates efficiencies through process improvement within the infrastructure of the Emergency Department.
- TeleSpecialists provides TeleStroke consultation services to develop on-site rapid triage and second-level assessment protocols to help rapid triage and early stroke team notification.
- TeleSpecialists provides an in-house hotline number that can be used for quick neurologist on-screen response.
- With the use of Value Stream Mapping, implementing a process improvement plan within the process flow of the Emergency Department, TeleSpecialists aims to reduce Door-To-Needle times by implementing simple process improvement measures.
- If the minimum specifications are in place, your hospital will have the option to use your existing cart and video platform, with no specific software or carts to purchase from us or install. If your team is just starting out, we are happy to advise your team regarding technology selection.
Other Services Provided by TeleSpecialists
To help solve the national shortage of neurologists, our team of expert TeleNeurologists is available via telemedicine cart to provide a number of other essential neurological services, including:
Contact Us
TeleSpecialists provides comprehensive TeleStroke consultation services to help facilities develop programs from the ground up. The results are faster DTN time for hospitals and improving stroke patients’ overall outcomes. Through experience with many major health care systems across the US, we can provide a quality-focused, consistent, and data-driven TeleStroke program with expert neurology consultation for your facility.
