A stroke alert sounds and the neurologist is in clinic across town. Someone starts making calls. Someone else describes the patient over the phone. The clock that costs an estimated 1.9 million brain cells a minute keeps running.
There is a better way: where the neurologist is on video with that patient in minutes, using the workflows and equipment the hospital already has. This is now a reality at Piedmont Columbus Regional.
The two-hospital system anchoring stroke care for Columbus, Ga., relied on community neurologists who were often offsite, with clinical decisions depending on second-hand information. Its physician-led telemedicine program shortened assessment-to-treatment windows, reduced door-to-needle times and now delivers rapid, real-time care at the patient’s bedside — faster than national guidelines require and with fewer transfers.
The stroke program manager who ran the rollout and the physician leader who staffs the coverage will walk through the model, the metrics they watch and what they would require of any partner.
Insights include:
- How video-based, physician-led evaluation fits inside an existing code stroke workflow
- Why coverage consistency, not technology, helps embed TeleNeurologists deep in the hospital care team
- How avoided transfers translate into preserved beds, revenue and treatment capacity
- The partner non-negotiables, including The Joint Commission accreditation and day 1 EHR integration