• Jeffrey A Switzer, Rajendra Singh, Lars Mathiassen, Jennifer L Waller, Robert J Adams, and David C Hess.
• Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia. Electronic address: jswitzer@gru.edu.
• J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2015 Apr 1; 24 (4): 739-44.

BackgroundTelestroke extends stroke expertise to underserved hospitals and facilitates treatment with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). We investigated the variability in tPA treatment rates across 2 large telestroke networks-consisting of hubs at Georgia Regents Medical Center (GRMC) and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and their affiliated spoke hospitals-to identify spoke-related factors predictive of greater tPA use.MethodsObservational study of tPA treatment rate at 32 spoke hospitals within the GRMC and MUSC telestroke networks. Spokes were characterized by primary stroke center status, local stroke nurse coordinator, local neurology support, hospital size, post-tPA management strategy, whether the spoke hospitals paid to participate in the network, and whether the hub or the spoke hospital initially proposed the telemedicine linkage for consultations with a remote stroke specialist. Primary outcome was tPA treatment rate adjusted for emergency department (ED) volume.ResultsThere was substantial variation in the adjusted tPA rate across spokes (range, .85-8.74 administrations/10(4) ED visits/year). Only spokes with a stroke nurse coordinator (4.75/10(4) ED visits/year versus 2.84/10(4) ED visits/year, P = .03) were associated with higher tPA use.ConclusionsThe application of telestroke has variable results on tPA delivery in spoke hospitals. However, the presence of a stroke nurse coordinator at the spoke facilitated treatment of ischemic stroke cases with tPA.Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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