Impact of Telemedicine on Access to Acute Stroke Care in the State of Texas.

Authors / Editors

Hassler, Fabio

Research Areas

Publication Details

Output type: Journal article

Author list: Wu, Lyerly, Albright, Ward, Hassler, Messier, Wolff, Brannas, Savitz, Carr

Publisher: Wiley Open Access

Publication year: 2014

Journal: Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (2328-9503)

Volume number: 1

Issue number: 1

Start page: 27

End page: 33

Number of pages: 7

ISSN: 2328-9503

eISSN: 2328-9503

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

Unpaywall Data

Open access status: green

Full text URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3925075

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nTo examine the impact of telemedicine on access to acute stroke care and expertise in the state of Texas.\nMETHODS\nTexas hospitals were surveyed using a standard questionnaire and categorized as: (1) stand-alone Primary Stroke Centers not using telemedicine for acute stroke care, (2) Primary Stroke Centers using telemedicine for acute stroke care, (3) non-Primary Stroke Center hospitals using telemedicine for acute stroke care, or (4) non-Primary Stroke Center hospitals not using telemedicine for acute stroke care. Population data were obtained from the US Census Bureau and the Neilson Claritas Demographic Estimation Program. Access within 60 minutes to a designated facility was calculated at the block group level.\nRESULTS\nOver 75% of Texans had 60-minute access to a stand-alone Primary Stroke Center. Including Primary Stroke Centers using telemedicine increased access by 6.5%. Adding non- Primary Stroke Centers that use telemedicine for acute stroke care provided 60-minute access for an additional 2% of Texans, leaving 16% of Texans without 60-minute access to acute stroke care. Approximately 62% of Texans had 60-minute access to more than one type of facility that provided acute stroke care.\nCONCLUSION\nThe use of telemedicine in the state of Texas brought 60-minute access to >2 million Texans who otherwise would not have had access to acute stroke expertise. Our findings demonstrate that using telemedicine for acute stroke has the ability to provide neurologically underserved areas access to acute stroke care.

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