This article originally appeared in Developments, a newsletter
produced by the UMass Medical School/UMass Memorial Development Office.
Time is critical when someone is experiencing a stroke. To help save precious
time, UMass Memorial Medical Center is working with its community hospitals to
get treatment to stroke victims faster. The Telestroke Program gives four UMass
Memorial community hospitals-Clinton, HealthAlliance, Wing Memorial and Heywood
Hospital in Gardner-immediate access to Medical Center neurologists with
expertise in stroke care to assess and diagnose a stroke patient upon arrival at
an emergency room.
By combining the latest in video, networking and software technology,
neurologists examine and talk to a patient or family members as well as the
emergency room physician in real time through videoconferencing. The neurologist
can also view CT scans with the emergency medicine physician and work
collaboratively throughout the patient care process.
"Once a diagnosis is made, we can decide on the most effective treatment plan
to quickly lessen the symptoms and outcomes of the stroke," said Wiley Hall, MD,
assistant professor of neurology and surgery and Telestroke Program director.
"Our experts are examining patients via audio and video, eliminating the need to
spend precious time transferring them to the Medical Center."