Novel Use of a Nurse‐Led Telemedicine Team in Acute Stroke: A Retrospective Review of the Impact on a Regional Health Care System

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the increasing incidence of acute ischemic stroke in the United States, many health care facilities remain unprepared to manage patients with acute stroke, including the administration of intravenous alteplase (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator [rTPA]). This has led to an opportunity for telemedicine systems to facilitate these evaluations and acute medical stroke treatment decisions. However, even telemedicine systems can fail to provide timely evaluation and management of the patient with acute stroke. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare stroke outcome metrics pre‐ and postimplementation of a hybrid, local nurse‐led “stroke‐responder” telemedicine system. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 21 patients at a regional community hospital between the years of 2014 and 2016. Data were collected pre‐ and postimplementation of a local stroke‐responder system. Outcomes obtained included door‐to‐alert time, door‐to‐computerized tomography (CT) time, door‐to‐rtPA order time, and door‐to‐rtPA bolus dose administration time. Outcomes were compared among years. Results: Between 2014 and 2016, 21 charts were reviewed. Decreased mean times were observed for all metrics. The mean time for door‐to‐alert decreased from 21.19 to 5.84 minutes (P = 0.021), door‐to‐CT from 29.9 to 12.2 minutes (P = 0.022), door‐to‐rtPA order 88.4 to 53 minutes (P = 0.021), and door‐to‐rtPA administration from 106.94 to 64.65 minutes (P = 0.001). Conclusion: In an acute stroke telemedicine system, implementation of a local nurse‐led “stroke responder” system resulted in significantly decreased acute stroke metrics for a community hospital within a regional hospital system.