Commonwealth Health, Jefferson Collaborate on Stroke Telemedicine

1/8/2019

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (Jan. 8, 2018) – Commonwealth Health has joined the Jefferson Neuroscience Network, a collaboration that uses telemedicine technology to provide local patients with access to Jefferson Health’s comprehensive stroke program and an immediate link to the top neuroscience specialists in the country. The Jefferson Neuroscience Network connects community hospitals with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, providing around-the-clock access to neuroscience specialists and further advancing Commonwealth Health’s stroke care in the region.

Cor Catena, CEO of Commonwealth Health, said Jefferson Health’s reputation for excellent stroke care and its advanced telemedicine capabilities were the driving force for the alliance.

“Jefferson Health has been the leader in stroke telemedicine in the tri-state area for more than a decade,” Catena said. “The top-notch specialists at Jefferson Health working in collaboration with the excellent staffs in our hospitals’ emergency departments make this a perfect fit, allowing us to continue to provide our communities with the highest quality of care.”

Patients who are admitted to the emergency departments at Commonwealth Health’s five acute care hospitals within 24 hours of exhibiting symptoms of stroke will be linked through telemedicine services to a neuroscience physician from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

This arrangement offers Commonwealth Health access to Jefferson Health’s stroke program including education programs for clinicians and the community, clinical trials and advanced protocols for the treatment and management of stroke.

A patient who is admitted to a Commonwealth Health emergency department showing signs of stroke is immediately linked through Jefferson Expert Teleconsulting, or JET, a high-tech, mobile robotic teleconsulting system that is covered by the top neuroscience physicians in Philadelphia. Newly installed software and robotic equipment at Commonwealth Health hospitals enable the Jefferson Health neuro-specialist to examine patients remotely while speaking directly with the clinical team at Commonwealth, the patient and their family members.

Maggie Lipperini, Commonwealth Health market director of orthopedics and neurosciences, said early identification of a stroke followed by swift, expert care is the health care network’s No. 1 goal.

“According to the American Stroke Association, every four minutes someone dies from a stroke,” Lipperini said. “Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Every minute leading up to effective treatment can cost the stroke patient 1.9 million neurons in the brain.”

Here’s how the program works:

• The emergency room physician at Commonwealth Health places a phone call to Jefferson Health and requests a JET consult.
• Within minutes, the Jefferson Health neuro-specialist on call uses a computer or iPhone to connect remotely via the robot to see and speak with the attending physician, patient and family members.
• The Jefferson Health physician obtains the patient’s medical history, examines the patient, reviews CT scans and lab results and provides recommendations for immediate treatment.
• A decision is made to either admit the patient to the Commonwealth Health facility for continued care or to transfer him or her to a hospital such as Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience for more advanced care.

“Our goal is to improve stroke care for every patient in every one of our member hospitals through use of telemedicine and collaborative partnerships with health care providers in the community,” Maureen DePrince, senior director of neuroscience at the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute at Jefferson Health, said. “Joining forces with Commonwealth Health will help us to provide the best possible stroke care to patients and families in Northeastern Pennsylvania.”

Commonwealth Health includes five acute care hospitals: Berwick Hospital, Columbia County; Moses Taylor Hospital and Regional Hospital of Scranton, Lackawanna County; Tyler Memorial Hospital, Wyoming County, and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Luzerne County.

The Jefferson Neuroscience Network introduced its stroke telemedicine program in 2010 in response to the growing shortage of neurologists facing rural and smaller market hospitals. It serves 37 community hospitals and has performed more than 10,000 remote acute stroke consultations.

To read more about the Jefferson program, go to https://hospitals.jefferson.edu/departments-and-services/telemedicine/

Back