Vim & Vigor - Summer 2018 - Community Healthcare - 49

Members of Community Hospital's stroke
team, (left to right) MaryAnn Green, RN,
Robert Hoskins, RN, and Jennifer Biank, RN ,
use the TeleStroke mobile video robotic
system to let a Rush University Medical
Center vascular neurologist speak face-toface with a patient in the emergency room as
part of a detailed assessment.

A Virtual Leap in

Stroke Care

TeleStroke partnership brings team of
experts together at bedsides BY MARY FETSCH

W

ith the goal of enhancing
stroke care and patient
recovery in Northwest
Indiana, the hospitals
of Community Healthcare System have
partnered with Rush University Medical
Center's TeleStroke Network. The network utilizes telemedicine to bring
board-certified vascular neurologists
from Rush to the patient's bedside within
minutes for stroke assessment through a
mobile video robotic system.
The TeleStroke technology is available 24/7 to expand treatment options
for ischemic stroke patients arriving to Emergency departments of
Community Hospital in Munster,
St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago
and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.
"TeleStroke allows Rush vascular
neurologists to speak face-to-face with

patients, neurologists and clinicians
present in the emergency room," says
Alan Kumar, MD, chief medical officer, Community Healthcare System.
"The assessment helps our Emergency
department teams quickly determine if
the patient is an appropriate candidate
for tissue plasminogen activator (tPA),
which can save lives or reduce the longterm effects of stroke."
During a TeleStroke assessment, a
Rush neurologist reviews CT scans,
vital signs and-through a robotic highdefinition camera located on the unit-
views a patient's pupils during a detailed
assessment. The physician has access
to the patient's medical information
through an electronic medical record.
Within minutes, the stroke neurologist, along with clinical staff, determines a plan of care and treatment to

be initiated by the Emergency department physician. The process reduces the
amount of time it takes to perform neurological assessments by having them
completed simultaneously between consulting and on-site physicians.
About 85 percent of all strokes are
caused by an obstruction within a
vessel supplying blood to the brain.
Research shows that timely intervention to remove a blockage is the
most effective treatment. However,
Indiana is one of the lowest performing states as it pertains to stroke treatment and "door-to-needle times." The
Community Healthcare System partnership with Rush focuses on improved
access to treatment and "door-to-needle
times" in Northwest Indiana.
"Our partnership with Rush ensures
that more advanced procedures are
available locally for acute ischemic
stroke care, such as intra-arterial
tPA and mechanical thrombectomy,"
says neuroendovascular surgeon
Demetrius Lopes, MD, surgical director of the neuroendovascular program
of Community Healthcare System. "The
TeleStroke medicine partnership helps
us continue to deliver an advanced level
of care at a time when it is needed most
by our community." ■

WEBSITE

Learn More
For more information about
stroke treatment and care at the
hospitals of Community Healthcare
System, visit comhs.org/services/
stroke-care.

SUMME R 2018

49
http://www.comhs.org/services/stroke-care http://www.comhs.org/services/stroke-care
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