Baptist Health Madisonville begins teleneurology program to treat stroke patients

Baptist Health Madisonville begins teleneurology program to treat stroke patients

Baptist Health Madisonville begins teleneurology program

 to treat stroke patients

 

Madisonville, KY. (October 3, 2019): Baptist Health Madisonville recently began offering teleneurology services for patients with stroke-related conditions.

This advanced neurological care is offered in association with the University of Louisville Neurology program. With the new teleneurology services, treatment is fast and helps overcome traditional barriers such as distance and time.

Minutes matter during a stroke and receiving care immediately is critical because:

 

• 2 million brain cells die every minute during a stroke, increasing the chance for brain damage, disability or even death.

• Approximately 795,000 strokes occur each year.

• Every four minutes, a life ends in the U.S. due to stroke.

  Now, patients can quickly receive specialized neurological care faster and close to home and their support network.

  “When a patient arrives in our emergency department with stroke-like symptoms, our team will quickly assess their condition,” said Chief Medical Officer Wayne Lipson, MD.  “We then connect with UL stroke specialists through telemedicine, using video communications technology.  This provides our patients 24/7 neurological consultation from an off-site location.”

  “The neurologist will communicate directly with the patient, family and local doctors to determine the appropriate care for the patient,” added Lipson.

   The neurologist will help the on-site team by:

• Providing a diagnosis

• Recommending and providing oversight for the clot busting drug tPA. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability.

• Developing a plan of care

• Recommending a transfer of the patient to a higher level of care, if needed

  The remote physician is on the video within minutes. When an intervention plan happens early, patients generally experience better long-term recovery.

  “Teleneurology allows for faster intervention and crucial access to care, especially for patients in rural or remote areas,” hospital president Robert Ramey said.  “By providing teleneurology services in Madisonville we can reduce the need to transfer patients out of the area to other facilities, saving them precious time and improving their outcomes. This also reduces a patient’s cost by eliminating the transfer by helicopter or ambulance and keeps them close to their families.”

  Learn to recognize early signs of a stroke by using F.A.S.T.  If treatment occurs within three hours of the first symptoms, the risk of long-term disability can be significantly reduced.

• FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side droop?

• ARMS: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one side drift downward?

• SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?

• TIME: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

 

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