gms | German Medical Science

Patients with an acute neurological disorder who arrive at the emergency room (ER) of a HELIOS General Hospital without a Neurology Department, now have the possibility to consult a Stroke Center 24/7 via video-conferencing for further diagnostic and treatment options. The clinical examination is performed together and the "remote" stroke expert is able to access the radiological data (CCT, MRI) simultaneously.

Four Stroke Center of the HELIOS hospital group (Aue, Berlin-Buch, Erfurt, Wuppertal) created a network to offer a teleneuromedical service for patients with acute neurological disorders. The online server of the "HELIOS NEURONET" accumulates data from these patients to ameliorate the quality of patient management. The acute neuromedical service is offered throughout a 24/7 calling system and the on-call responsibility rotates weekly between the Stroke Centers.

In a hospital group the infra-structure of Neuro-ICU's and Stroke Units can be extended by a teleneuromedical service to use this high potential in patient care management. Especially the teleneuromedical network – including the specialties neurology, internal medicine, neurosurgery and neuroradiology – leads to a faster and safer quality of care in patient service. New concepts and time saving results will be presented and discussed.

The efficiency of teleneuromedical services in acute stroke care in rural areas is confirmed in literature. A teleneuromedical network system with a weekly rotating service between the Stroke Centers has the advantage of an effective management during the on-call-week. The teleneuromedical consultations within the network of NeuroIntensivCare and Stroke Units at the HELIOS hospital group promises an improvement in quality of acute care in rural areas and smaller hospitals without certain specialties.