Less Experienced Telestroke Consultants Are More Likely to Go On-Camera, but Less Likely to Give tPA

BACKGROUND: Stroke telemedicine (telestroke) increases tPA availability and administration. However, the effective use of telestroke requires training, which is not a standard component of vascular neurology training. As a result, many providers learn telestroke skills “on the job” after finishing their training. AIMS: We sought to explore if providers with more telestroke experience would be more efficient in the utilization of telemedicine, compared to providers with less experience. METHODS: We prospectively collected data on telestrokes between July 2014 and July 2017 at a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Telestrokes are initiated on the telephone and typically, but not always, followed by an on-camera consult. Decision to do a phone-only versus on-camera consult is at the provider's discretion. RESULTS: There were 1,029 telestrokes, of which 807 were on-camera (74%). Of the 8 telestroke providers, 4 had less experience, having just finished stroke fellowship, and 4 had more experience (mean = 7.8 years of telestroke experience at the beginning of the study). Providers with less experience were more likely to go on camera than providers with more experience (79% vs. 67% of consults, p = 0.021), but were less likely to give tPA when on-camera (25% vs. 33%, p = 0.023). The absolute rate of tPA administration, combining phone and camera administration, or the frequency of technical difficulties were not different. CONCLUSIONS: Telestroke consultants with less experience do not triage as many cases by phone and are less likely to administer tPA on-camera, suggesting their use of telemedicine is not optimized. This supports the introduction of telestroke didactics during vascular neurology training.