title: Telemedicine Interest for Routine Follow-Up Care Among Neurology Patients in Arkansas.
abstract: Teleneurology in Arkansas has been used primarily for management of acute stroke with a state-funded hub-and-spoke model allowing physicians at rural hospitals to access vascular neurologists in time to facilitate tissue plasminogen activator administration. Routine neurologic care has been provided only in small pilot studies. We wished to determine patient interest in participating in teleneurology for routine follow-up visits as well as demographic and medical factors associated with interest.
  
  
  
  New and established patients of the Neurology Outpatient Clinic at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) were surveyed between March 2011 and December 2012 to assess their interest in participating in teleneurology as well as potential factors associated with their interest.
  
  
  
  Of 1,441 respondents, 52.4% were interested in telemedicine. Of those interested versus uninterested in telemedicine, respectively, 68.9% versus 36.32% traveled more than 1 h to the clinic, 64.7% versus 35.3% had difficulty secondary to neurological conditions, 22.6% versus 6.8% had missed medical appointments due to travel problems, and 43.1% versus 9.4% had travel-imposed financial hardship.
  
  
  
  Telemedicine interest for routine follow-up visits was strong among patients at the UAMS Neurology Outpatient Clinic. Factors positively associated with interest included long travel distances, travel expenses, and transportation difficulties. These results suggest that implementing a telemedicine program for follow-up visits would be acceptable to neurology patients for routine ongoing care.
authors.affiliation: 1 Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Clinical and Translational Sciences Track, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bashiri
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: L John
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oliveto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001131:Arkansas; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009462:Neurology / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014186:Transportation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014195:Travel / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator
keywords: telecommunications; telehealth; telemedicine; teleneurology; telepsychiatry