Telemedicine Networks and Remote Evaluation of the Acute Stroke Patient

The chapter objectives are to summarize the evidence that supports the reliability of telemedicine for diagnosis and efficacy in acute stroke treatment, identify strategies for funding the development of a telestroke network, to present issues with respect to economic sustainability, cost effectiveness, and the status of reimbursement for telestroke, to identify key components to maintaining the logistical and/or operational sustainability of a telestroke network, to identify best practices to be considered for assessment and management of acute stroke when planning for and developing a telestroke network, to demonstrate practical steps to enable progress toward implementing a telestroke solution for optimizing acute stroke care, to incorporate evidence-based practice guidelines and care pathways into a telestroke network, to emphasize technology variables and options, to propose metrics to use when determining performance, outcomes and quality of a telestroke network, to identify and help overcome obstacles to telestroke practice, to present tips for sustaining a telestroke network, to suggest strategies for obtaining buy-in from clinicians and administrative leadership and providers, and to identify and engage champions and stakeholders of telestroke.