Tele-stroke Services Saves Lives In Arkansas

Arkansas used to lead the US in stroke deaths. Less then 1% of stroke patients statewide received the de-clotting drug alteplase (TPA).  Renee Joiner, (BSN, RN) Director of Arkansas SAVES Stroke Telemedicine Program and Tina Benton, (BSN, RN) Oversight Director of the Center for Distance Health explain how telehealth turned around the state's stroke recovery in the state.

Arkansas's state healthcare broadband network, the Center for Distance Health at the UAMS and the Arkansas Department of Human Services formed Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (ARSAVES). This telehealth service connects 54 of the state’s 80 hospital.

Now 33% of the patients in those hospitals who qualify for the stroke program to receive TPA. The state’s healthcare fiber ring supports several additional health and telehealth programs throughout the Arkansas hospital systems, including a huge trauma care program. You can read this about this and other stories in the report, “Broadband and Telehealth: In Sickness and In Health.

Craig Settles hosts Gigabit Nation. He also assists communities with the business and marketing planning of their broadband networks.