Telestroke program increases the thrombolytic treatment rates among patients with ischemic stroke victims

Telestroke program increases the thrombolytic treatment rates among patients with ischemic stroke victims -

The use of thrombolytic treatment save the lives of patients acute ischemic stroke increased by 73 percent following the implementation of a telestroke Kaiser Permanente program, according to a study published today in Permanent Journal .

Stroke is a major cause of death and a major cause of serious disability the US long-term. acute ischemic stroke, the most common type, is caused by a clot obstructing the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, which can cause death of brain cells.

tissue plasminogen activator (or tPA) is the only treatment approved by the FDA for acute ischemic stroke; but it is often underutilized because the success of treatment depends on the speed with which it can be administered.

The telestroke program allows emergency doctors in hospitals without stroke internal neurology and neurological intensive care units to enable a neurologist at a remote location, often before the suspected stroke patient arrives by ambulance emergency department. patient's brain diagnostic images are instantly available to both the urgency and the doctors remotely by electronic health record, and the neurologist can assess the patient visually using video technology that shaves valuable minutes off the time that it is necessary to determine whether the patient is a candidate for tPA. The drug, to be effective, must be administered within 60 minutes of the onset of stroke symptoms, and it is more effective the sooner it comes.

"Our findings add to the existing set of evidence in support of the value of telestroke programs to improve tPA administration rates in patients with ischemic stroke in hospitals that may have limited resources or access to neurological expertise, "said Adam L. Sharp MD, lead study author, Kaiser Permanente Southern research Department and evaluation in California.

telehealth, which includes telestroke program covered in this research helps fill gaps in care through the use of telecommunication technologies to provide remote information and medical services. the use of these services has recently jumped the technology is improved and health care organizations seek to provide specialized services to help meet the needs of patients.

the study evaluated 2,657 patients in 11 Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Southern California have implemented a telestroke program between August 2013 and December 2014. Prior to program implementation, eight of these centers were much less likely to administer tPA for ischemic stroke patients compared to the ease with the largest volume of patients stroke. After the implementation of telestroke, all facilities were at least as likely to administer tPA as the medical center with the largest volume of stroke patients, with a facility better performing

the researchers also found :.

• The use of tPA increased 6.3 percent in patients with acute ischemic stroke before the implementation of telestroke to nearly 11 percent after the Implementation.
[1945009complications] bleeding has not increased overall and were overall slightly lower after telestroke. was implemented (5.1 percent against 4.9 percent)
• Two key measures of improved quality: the median time for a patient to receive diagnostic imaging has been reduced from 56 to 44 minutes, and the time of administration of tPA to eligible persons was reduced from 66 to 55 minutes.