Implementation plan for stroke telemedicine in the Valencian Region

Abstract

Stroke telemedicine is a counselling modality that enables care of stroke patients at remote departmental hospitals by specialists at stroke units in reference hospitals. The planning and implementation of a hub-and-spoke telestroke network are complicated. This paper describes the implementation plan of Telestroke in the Valencian Region, Spain. A stroke telemedicine network was installed in the Valencian Region connecting the departmental hospitals with stroke teams, to the 6 public reference hospitals with a stroke unit. The implementation plan included the installation of the stroke telemedicine network with availability of connection over the internet by VPN. Strategies to ensure good coordination between stroke units and stroke teams were implemented, the protocol of care for the stroke patient was disseminated and training sessions were held. Internationally, the advantages of stroke telemedicine are recognised. It is an effective and reliable method to approach specialist healthcare to remote populations.