Wellington Regional Medical Center has now joined forces with Specialists On Call, Inc., (formerly known as Brain Saving Technologies) to provide advanced teleneurology services to help diagnose stroke or other neurological conditions. Specialists On Call, Inc., connects emergency department staff with board-certified neurologists through an innovative audio and visual communications system.
David M. Soria, M.D., Chief of Emergency Medicine, and Nadine Smith, R.N., Stroke Program Coordinator, evaluate a patient with the guidance of a Specialists On Call, Inc., neurologist.
Responding to a national healthcare crisis the need for rapid, effective treatment of stroke patients and the shortage of critical care stroke neurologists Specialists On Call, Inc., is the first teleneurology service accredited by The Joint Commission.
“Time is so critical with brain injury,” says David M. Soria, M.D., Chief of Emergency Medicine at Wellington Regional Medical Center. “Fast access to neurology expertise will offer more patients the option of receiving t-PA, the only medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of stroke, reducing the risk for long-term disability.”
When an ER physician suspects that a patient is having a stroke, a CT scan will be ordered. The telecommunications system will be brought to the patients bedside, where the ER staff will have access to the expertise of a neurologist via video-conferencing technology 24/7.
The neurologist will facilitate an examination of the patient by the ER staff, view the CT scan and have an opportunity to interact with the patient and family members. The neurologist, along with the ER physician, can then make an assessment to determine whether the patient is a candidate for thrombolytic therapy with t-PA medication, which can help halt and even reverse the damage caused by the stroke if administered within three hours of the onset of symptoms. This drug helps dissolve blood clots that cause ischemic strokes the most common type of stroke.
“This technology provides a unique solution to the nationwide shortage of neurologists,” Dr. Soria says. “It enables us to bring an experienced neurologist to a patients bedside any time of the day or night so that we can intervene quickly, if necessary.”
