Telestroke: extending stroke expertise into underserved areas.
Telestroke systems offer the opportunity to extend stroke-care expertise into rural and underserved areas. These systems are being used to give alteplase to patients with stroke in previously underserved areas safely, effectively, and rapidly. Telestroke will probably play a large part in improving the quality of stroke care and in enrolling patients into clinical trials in rural and community hospitals. One such telestroke system, REACH (remote evaluation of acute ischaemic stroke), is a low-cost, web-based system that allows the consultant to access the system from work, home, or on the road. REACH is presently being used to give alteplase and guide acute stroke care in eight rural community hospitals in Georgia.
Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. dhess@mail.mcg.edu
David C
DC
Hess
Samuel
S
Wang
Hartmut
H
Gross
Fenwick T
FT
Nichols
Christiana E
CE
Hall
Robert J
RJ
Adams
D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D049269:Videoconferencing