Teleneurology in Practice

This title will provide an up-to-date review of the emerging practice of neurology telemedicine. Increasingly, neurology, like other disciplines of medicine, is implementing the technological advances and discoveries of the science of healthcare delivery to improve not only access and efficiency but outcomes and cost as well. For patients in remote and underserved areas, having a neurological condition means lengthy and costly travel to obtain specialist evaluation. Telemedicine has the ability to deliver such care to a patient's local community. Neurology telemedicine for acute stroke has already demonstrated clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness by raising the numbers of thrombolysis-eligible patients who can be treated in a timely fashion. More than 85% of leading US neurology departments currently use or plan to implement telemedicine within the next year. The US military has a limited number of neurologists - a store-and-forward consultation system has enabled military neurologists to deliver far-forward battlefield care for service members deployed overseas. The chapters in this book will review the use of telemedicine for the evaluation and treatment of patients with many common neurological conditions and will provide a practical guide for neurologists seeking to incorporate telemedicine into their daily practices.