Expansion of Telestroke Coverage in Community Hospitals : Unifying Stroke Care and Reducing Transfer Rate

© 2023 The Authors. Annals of Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association..

OBJECTIVE: Telestroke (TS) service has been shown to improve stroke diagnosis timing and accuracy, facilitate treatment decisions, and decrease interfacility transfers. Expanding TS service to inpatient units at the community hospital provides an opportunity to follow up on stroke patients and optimize medical management. This study examines the outcome of expanding TS coverage from acute emergency room triage to incorporate inpatient consultation.

METHODS: We studied the effect of expanding TS to inpatient consultation service at 19 regional hospitals affiliated with Promedica Stroke Network. We analyzed data pre- and post-TS expansion. We reviewed changes in TS utilization, admission rate, thrombolytic therapy, patient transfer rate, and diagnosis accuracy.

RESULTS: Between January 2018 and June 2022, a total of 9,756 patients were evaluated in our stroke network (4,705 in pre- and 5,051 in the post-TS expansion). In the post-TS expansion period, stroke patients' admission at the spoke hospital increased from 18/month to 40/month, and for TIA from 11/month to 16/month. TS cart use increased from 12% to 35.2%. Patient transfers to hub hospital decreased by 31%. TS service expansion did not affect intravenous thrombolytic therapy rate or door-to-needle time. There was no difference in length of stay or readmission rate, and the patients at the spoke hospitals had a higher rate of home discharge 57.38% compared with 52.58% at hub hospital.

INTERPRETATION: Telestroke service expansion to inpatient units helped decrease transfers and retain patients in their communities, increased stroke and TIA diagnosis accuracy, and did not compromise patients' hospitalization or outcome. ANN NEUROL 2024;95:576-582.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:95

Enthalten in:

Annals of neurology - 95(2024), 3 vom: 29. März, Seite 576-582

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Alhajala, Hisham [VerfasserIn]
Hendricks-Jones, Melinda [VerfasserIn]
Shawver, Julie [VerfasserIn]
Amllay, Abdelaziz [VerfasserIn]
Chen, John Tuhao [VerfasserIn]
Hajjar, Monica [VerfasserIn]
Robbins, Sarah [VerfasserIn]
Dwyer, Trisha [VerfasserIn]
Sedlak, Emily [VerfasserIn]
Crayne, Christopher [VerfasserIn]
Miller, Brian [VerfasserIn]
Kung, Vieh [VerfasserIn]
Burgess, Richard [VerfasserIn]
Jumaa, Mouhammad [VerfasserIn]
Zaidi, Syed F [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

EC 3.4.21.68
Fibrinolytic Agents
Journal Article
Review
Tissue Plasminogen Activator

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 01.03.2024

Date Revised 01.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1002/ana.26839

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM36529960X