For millions of Americans living in rural and underserved communities, getting timely neurologic care can feel impossible. According to the American Academy of Neurology, the U.S. will see a 19% shortfall in neurologists in the coming year. Meanwhile, more than 40% of the world population lives with a neurological disorder, and a large portion of this population lives in the US. In the United States, the increasingly older population is seeing more neurological impacts such as stroke, epilepsy, dementia, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s disease.
This shortage is especially harmful to smaller hospitals that lack the patient volume or financial resources to recruit full-time neurology staff. As a result, many of these hospitals need to transfer patients to distant facilities, risking treatment delays, higher costs and poorer outcomes.
Closing the Gap with Virtual Expertise
Tele-neurology leverages secure telemedicine technology to connect hospital teams and patients with neurologists in real-time. This approach enables hospitals without on-site neurologists or a tele-stroke specialist to provide emergency stroke evaluations, inpatient neurology consultations and collaborative treatment planning with on-site providers. Utilizing virtual expertise allows hospitals to retain more patients, reduce unnecessary transfers and expand access to specialty care, keeping treatment local and timely.
Recent studies have shown how effective tele-neurology can be. For instance, one study found that implementing an inpatient tele-neurology network significantly reduced the transfer rate of stroke patients to tertiary care centers, decreasing from 29.4% to 20.2%. Additionally, the American Medical Association reported that the percentage of routine tele-neurology patients who remained in community hospitals ranged from 89% to 95%. In comparison, 71% to 88% of emergency tele-neurology and tele-stroke patients could be treated locally with consultation support. Tele-neurology is closing the gap by improving access, enhancing patient retention and reducing the need for patient transfers.
Extending Life-Saving Stroke Response in Real Time
When stroke strikes, every minute counts. The American Stroke Association reports that for every minute a stroke goes untreated, 1.9 million brain cells die. With the popularity of Eagle’s Tele-Neurology program, Eagle sought to build a more personalized Tele-Stroke program powered by tele-neurology to help hospitals rapidly assess stroke patients, review brain imaging and make treatment decisions in minutes, not hours.
Outside of Eagle Telemedicine’s research, studies confirm telemedicine’s benefits in stroke care. One outside study found that hospitals using tele-stroke services doubled their administration of life-saving thrombolytic therapy compared to hospitals without it, improving patient outcomes and reducing long-term disability.
To provide this life-saving service to those in dire need, Eagle Telemedicine crafted the Rural Care Alliance to support those smaller, rural facilities. Within the alliance, smaller hospitals collaborate to make tele-neurology services affordable, sustainable and accessible. By sharing access to a network of board-certified neurologists, Alliance members provide their communities with consistent specialty care without bearing the full cost of staffing, strengthening the hospitals’ ability to compete, retain patients and support their local healthcare mission.
The telemedicine return on investment for patients and hospitals is evident. Organizations partnering with Eagle Telemedicine report faster, evidence-based treatment decisions, lower patient transfer rates, improved revenue retention through keeping patients in-house and enhanced clinical support for hospital teams. Most importantly, patients receive the care they need, when needed, without leaving their community. Eagle Telemedicine’s Tele-Neurology Services and Rural Healthcare Alliance are helping hospitals nationally achieve high-level specialty care where it’s needed most. To learn how to expand access, improve outcomes and advance your mission, give our experts a call. We can’t wait for you to share your community needs with us, so we can customize our offerings to solve them.
