Teleneurology: An Overview of Current Status
Teleneurology: An Overview of Current Status
Teleneurology is an evolving branch of telemedicine. It may be defined as neurological consultation at a distance, or not in person, using various technologies to achieve connectivity, including the telephone and the internet. Teleneurology, encompassing teleconsultation, teleconferencing and tele-education, may be clinician- or patient-initiated. Neurologists have reported on telemedicine applied to specific neurological conditions, including headache, dementia, epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders and multiple sclerosis. Clinician initiatives have perhaps been most notable in stroke, stimulated by the urgency of patient assessment prior to decisions on thrombolytic treatment. The use of patient-initiated teleneurology is increasing through the widespread availability of the internet and the use of search engines—resources that may impact on the traditional clinician–patient relationship. Teleneurology will increasingly impact on all neurologists.
Telemedicine is medicine at a distance, wherein medical consultation is undertaken not 'in person'; it thus leads to 'remote diagnosis' or telediagnosis. Although the term is modern, probably dating from 1969, the concept is far from new, dating back to antiquity. What has changed over the millennia is the technological means by which connectivity is achieved. Whereas in the past connectivity was achieved by word of mouth, letter or even smoke signals, the modern era has brought us the telegraph, telephone, television and the internet. These technologically based modalities of care have the potential capacity to 'collapse the boundaries of time and space' and to address issues of access to, cost of, and quality of healthcare.
Telemedicine has been enthusiastically taken up in some, but not all, medical specialties. Visually oriented disciplines such as radiology, pathology and dermatology have frequently used telemedicine; telepsychiatry has also flourished, perhaps because patients find it less inhibiting to divulge personal information in this way. Likewise, the discipline of teleneurology has been developing in recent years, some features of which are briefly summarised here.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Teleneurology is an evolving branch of telemedicine. It may be defined as neurological consultation at a distance, or not in person, using various technologies to achieve connectivity, including the telephone and the internet. Teleneurology, encompassing teleconsultation, teleconferencing and tele-education, may be clinician- or patient-initiated. Neurologists have reported on telemedicine applied to specific neurological conditions, including headache, dementia, epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders and multiple sclerosis. Clinician initiatives have perhaps been most notable in stroke, stimulated by the urgency of patient assessment prior to decisions on thrombolytic treatment. The use of patient-initiated teleneurology is increasing through the widespread availability of the internet and the use of search engines—resources that may impact on the traditional clinician–patient relationship. Teleneurology will increasingly impact on all neurologists.
Introduction
Telemedicine is medicine at a distance, wherein medical consultation is undertaken not 'in person'; it thus leads to 'remote diagnosis' or telediagnosis. Although the term is modern, probably dating from 1969, the concept is far from new, dating back to antiquity. What has changed over the millennia is the technological means by which connectivity is achieved. Whereas in the past connectivity was achieved by word of mouth, letter or even smoke signals, the modern era has brought us the telegraph, telephone, television and the internet. These technologically based modalities of care have the potential capacity to 'collapse the boundaries of time and space' and to address issues of access to, cost of, and quality of healthcare.
Telemedicine has been enthusiastically taken up in some, but not all, medical specialties. Visually oriented disciplines such as radiology, pathology and dermatology have frequently used telemedicine; telepsychiatry has also flourished, perhaps because patients find it less inhibiting to divulge personal information in this way. Likewise, the discipline of teleneurology has been developing in recent years, some features of which are briefly summarised here.
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