Telemedicine Research Paper

Telemedicine used for stroke patients
Medical technology is expanding rapidly in hospitals all over the world. Telemedicine is one of the medical technologies that is used today in hospitals to help physicians and healthcare providers communicate with patients via phone, email and webcams, allowing them to provide quality care regardless the distance1. The use of telemedicine is bringing new approaches to treat, diagnose and prevent permanent damage to patients that need medical attention rapidly.
Telemedicine
Specialists are using telemedicine to connect with patients and other providers that are in rural areas where it’s difficult to have a specialist onsite. For example, there are two hospitals in my area, one is 25mi away from where I

live and the other one is 70mi away. The hospital closest to my house is small and doesn’t have specialist in house for any emergencies or consultation. For this we must wait to be transferred to other hospital or get a second appointment to get diagnose or treated. With telemedicine, the consultations in my hospital can be done remotely without the patient having to travel outside the city. Telemedicine is an outgrowing technology that has been proven to be beneficial to diagnose and treat patients suffering from acute stroke. We all know that acute stroke symptoms should be treated immediately to prevent a permanent disability. A study was done in a rural hospital in New Mexico to determine the benefit to diagnose a stroke and to be able to decide the administration of thrombolytics at the right time and the cost effectiveness of using telemedicine2.
Acute Stroke Study
The use of telestroke is a way of using telemedicine. Emergency cases of patients presenting with acute symptoms of stroke in places that do not have any specialist to care for strokes, like rural hospitals, the best way to diagnose and treat its by consulting an expert2. Neurologist are the experts on treating stroke patients and who have the power to make the decision to administer thrombolytics as soon as possible. Thrombolytics (tPA) is the medication to bust clots and prevent further damage from happening. The faster the diagnosis the less the damage. The case study was done from May 2015 to August 2016 where two group of patients were compared, one group was treated via telemedicine/telestroke consultation and the other group without consultation2. The results of the usage of telemedicine showed that it was more effective consulting a neurologist via telestroke, due to the benefits of decision making to administer thrombolytics2. The time to diagnose was less, having time to administer tPA preventing deterioration of the patient. Also, the transfer cost was reduced because there was no need to transfer the patient out when the problem was treated on time2. Often patients that are diagnosed and treated early have improved outcomes and less costly treatments. This study demonstrated clinical effectiveness in reducing brain damage and cost saving to the facilities.
Telemedicine/telestroke could be a potential solution to provide effective acute stroke treatment especially to those countryside areas where they don’t have the benefits of having specialist onsite3. A facility can have access to remote neurologist consults from any location within minutes3. Telemedicine can offer further education and training to healthcare providers to care for acute stroke patients and be able to identify early symptoms. This will help patients and facilities to save money and provide a better service. This technology will reduce the time patient has to travel and the stress for waiting for specialist consultation, it will also improve access to specialty and advanced care.