What Is Telestroke?
Telehealth offers remote medical services, bringing enhanced healthcare to remote areas and immediate access to emergency care when the time to treatment is critical.
Telestroke refers to a telehealth process that connects physicians specializing in neurological disorders and stroke with hospitals and medical facilities in another location. These specialized physicians work with a patient’s emergency medicine doctors to diagnose stroke and recommend treatment for more successful outcomes.
Sevaro delivers top-tier telestroke solutions for U.S. hospitals and healthcare systems, empowering them with immediate access to either their in-house or additional stroke experts through our telestroke technology
How Does Stroke Telemedicine Work?
Stroke telemedicine connects an originating site where the patient is located to a distant site such as an urban medical center with stroke-ready training and protocols. A team of telestroke-trained caregivers work together at the distant site, relaying assessment and treatment to the medical personnel at the originating site.
Through digital video communication, internet-accessible electronic healthcare records, tablets and other mobile technologies, neurocritical care physicians can observe and communicate with patients in real-time. With the help of physicians and medical staff at the originating site, a diagnosis can be made and treatment administered immediately.
Types of Stroke
Knowing what type of stroke a patient is experiencing helps determine treatment and leads to better outcomes and recovery. The main types of stroke are ischemic, hemorrhagic and transient ischemic attack (TIA).
• Ischemic strokes account for 87% of strokes and are caused when blood flow to the brain is blocked. These blockages are often caused by blood clots.
• Hemorrhagic strokes happen when an artery in the brain leaks blood or bursts, causing the pooling blood to put pressure on brain cells, damaging them. The typical causes of hemorrhagic strokes include high blood pressure and bulges in an artery that stretch and burst, called an aneurysm.
• A transient ischemic attack is known as a mini-stroke. TIAs only block blood flow to the brain for a short time — no more than 5 minutes or so. However, a TIA is a stark warning of a future ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and is still considered a medical emergency.
What Emergent Conditions can Telestroke Services help With?
- Acute Spinal Cord Injury
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Ataxia
- Bell’s Palsy
- Brain Tumors
- Cerebral Aneurysm
- Epilepsy and Seizures
- Guillain-Barré Syndrome
- Headache
- Head Injury
- Hydrocephalus
- Lumbar Disk Disease (Herniated Disk)
- Meningitis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Neurocutaneous Syndromes
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Stroke (Brain Attack)
- Cluster Headaches
- Tension Headaches
- Migraine Headaches
- Encephalitis
- Septicemia
- Myasthenia Gravis
Speak With Us Today
Learn more about how Sevaro’s telestroke technology platform and team of virtual neurologists can support your neurology program. Schedule your initial consult today!