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Cover story
Remote Access Extends
Specialty Care to More Patients
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Telemedicine mitigates geography as a
barrier to patients receiving appropriate
treatment in remote areas.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was
the first hospital in the world to introduce
remote-presence robots.
WWW.UCLAHEALTH.ORG (continued from cover)
they are not diagnosed quickly and accurately,
according to Dr. Satou. “If we know the diagnosis
prenatally or at birth, we can stabilize the
newborn with continuously infused medication
until we can transfer the patient to an appropriate
pediatric heart center,” he says.
The diagnostic process is facilitated by a trained
technician at the treating hospital, who takes and
uploads digital ultrasound images to a secure
server. Dr. Satou reviews the images remotely
from a desktop or laptop computer with high-
speed Internet access and data encryption and
then discusses his recommendations with the
attending physician.
1-800-UCLA-888 (1-800-825-2888)
Similar technology is used in the treatment
of stroke. “Telestroke facilitates remote
cerebrovascular specialty assessment from any
location within minutes of consultation, adding
greater expertise to the care of stroke patients,” says
Latisha Ali, MD, director of UCLA’s TeleStroke
Network Partner Program. “We can examine
someone interactively, review brain images and
provide treatment recommendations in real time.”
If given within three hours of the first symptom,
the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator
(t-PA) may reduce long-term disability from stroke.
The American Heart Association estimates that
only 3 percent to 5 percent of ischemic stroke
patients are treated with thrombolysis. “Using this