title: American Telemedicine Association: Telestroke Guidelines.
abstract: The following telestroke guidelines were developed to assist practitioners in providing assessment, diagnosis, management, and/or remote consultative support to patients exhibiting symptoms and signs consistent with an acute stroke syndrome, using telemedicine communication technologies. Although telestroke practices may include the more broad utilization of telemedicine across the entire continuum of stroke care, with some even consulting on all neurologic emergencies, this document focuses on the acute phase of stroke, including both pre- and in-hospital encounters for cerebrovascular neurological emergencies. These guidelines describe a network of audiovisual communication and computer systems for delivery of telestroke clinical services and include operations, management, administration, and economic recommendations. These interactive encounters link patients with acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke syndromes with acute care facilities with remote and on-site healthcare practitioners providing access to expertise, enhancing clinical practice, and improving quality outcomes and metrics. These guidelines apply specifically to telestroke services and they do not prescribe or recommend overall clinical protocols for stroke patient care. Rather, the focus is on the unique aspects of delivering collaborative bedside and remote care through the telestroke model.
authors.affiliation: 1 Mayo Clinic College of Medicine , Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Demaerschalk
authors.affiliation: 2 Ascension Health and Columbia College of Nursing , Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: 1 Mayo Clinic College of Medicine , Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: 3 Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University , Augusta, Georgia .
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: 4 Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nystrom
authors.affiliation: 5 University of Cincinnati , Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Opeolu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adeoye
authors.affiliation: 6 Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schwamm
authors.affiliation: 7 University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wechsler
authors.affiliation: 8 InTouch Health , Santa Barbara, California.
authors.forename: Sallie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitchurch
mesh_terms: D000572:American Heart Association; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States
keywords: American Heart Association; American Stroke Association; American Telemedicine Association; guidelines; stroke; telemedicine; telestroke