Telestroke is cost-effective for hospitals

Researchers have found that using telemedicine to deliver stroke care, also known as telestroke, appears to be cost-effective for rural hospitals that do not have an around-the-clock neurologist, or stroke expert, on staff. The research is intended to help hospital administrators evaluate telestroke.

In telestroke care, the use of a telestroke robot allows a patient with stroke to be examined in real time by a neurology specialist elsewhere who consults via computer with an emergency room physician in the rural site.

‘Previous studies have demonstrated that a hub-and-spoke telestroke network is cost-effective from the societal perspective