If a stroke should occur, getting people treatment as quickly as humanly possible is critical in making sure that they are able to successfully recover and move on with their lives. The longer a person is delayed the treatment, the harder it is going to be for that person to recover. The problem is that smaller hospitals are not able to evaluate whether or not a person has had a stroke as easily as larger hospitals or stroke research centers. It can take time for the lab results to be sent from one location to another. However, with the usage of a technology called telestroke, smaller hospitals are now able to share neurology imaging and other information with larger hospitals and stroke centers who can help determine if a person is suffering a stroke in a very short period of time. 

However, telestroke is expensive and can be difficult to set up. In order to see if it is going to be worth it for your hospital, here are some questions to answer.

1. Is your hospital near a location that has an aging population?

The first thing to look at is whether or not the hospital is near a group of people that are getting older, past the age of fifty. The reason for this is that stroke resources are very important to older populations since they are the ones who are most likely to need them. Stroke resources are not as important to younger students. It wouldn't make as much sense to have telestroke resources at a hospital on a college campus because it will likely never be used, but if you are surrounded by nursing homes, it is absolutely necessary.

2. Does your treatment primarily rely on the drug tPA?

The next thing to look at is if your treatment primarily relies on the drug tPA, which is a drug that is specifically designed to bust the clots to the brain. If your treatment protocol does rely on this drug, then you absolutely need telestroke in order to get a patient diagnosed within a short period of time, since the drug won't work after the first few hours that a stroke occurs. 

If your treatment relies on other drugs that can be administered a little bit later, then advanced technology such as telestroke might not be necessary and you would be better off with an established way to share information.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in tele stroke treatment, such as Telespecialists.