At the Hospital Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Cafayate, a town in the province of Salta, in northwestern Argentina, a telecare system was installed to provide better care for patients with cerebrovascular accidents (CVA).
A modern telemetry system called Telestroke was installed at the Nuestra Señora del Rosario hospital, which will assist medical professionals in caring for stroke patients by connecting and establishing communication with neurologists at the San Bernardo Hospital in the city of Salta, capital of the homonymous province.
The Ntra. Señora del Rosario hospital is located 190 km from the San Bernardo Hospital, both public hospitals located in the province of Salta. Three hours of travel by car separate both hospitals, therefore, to provide access to health services to stroke patients in a small community like Cafayate, the application of telemedicine services is required to connect with a specialized health center such as the San Bernard.
The implementation of teleassistance and teleinterconsultation services between hospitals is key to providing quality services in populations where there are not enough trained professionals.
The Secretariat of Organizational Development of the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the neurology department of the San Bernardo hospital and the organization Initiative Angels were the architects of this project. On the other hand, the professionals of the hospital in Cafayate received training by the doctor Gabriela Orzuza.
“In the first days of October, the Telestroke room was inaugurated and Cafayate professionals were trained, which will save valuable time in local care for patients with stroke symptoms, with real-time remote assistance from the neurologists of the San Bernardo hospital”, explained the secretary of Organizational Development, Verónica Guzmán.
In addition, he highlighted the importance of this system in Argentina, since about 100,000 stroke events occur each year and a third of people die. "Medical assistance in the first hours of the event is essential to mark the evolution of the patient's recovery," he explained.
Telestroke is a system that connects medical professionals in two different places through audio and video and also has an application that shares diagnostic images with the consulting professional in another hospital, in this case with the consulting neurologists at Hospital San Bernardo .
The entire process happens in real time, so it is also possible to show the results of a diagnostic exam, so that professionals from miles away support staff to make better decisions.
