University of Virginia Health ambulances are now equipped with telehealth technology that allows stroke victims to be assessed by neurologists before they even arrive at the hospital, according to Fierce Health.
Stroke victims have a three-hour window in which the proper medication can be effectively administered. Allowing physicians to evaluate patients before they arrive in the hospital increases the chances that they will be able to receive the treatment they need.
"In our telestroke network, patients at a rural community hospital can receive TPA — the clog busting medication — at the same rate they might receive it, because of telemedicine, if they were a Charlottesville-based patient that showed up at our emergency department," said Karen S. Rheuban, MD, director of the University of Virginia Center for Telehealth.
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