A new program at Mass General that allows neurologists at the hospital to examine patients at other facilities is gaining ground. The program uses video conferencing and the Internet to provide remote access to CT scans. The hospital has reached agreements with 14 community hospitals in the Boston area, according to officials. Mass General says its "telestroke" program may soon be offered to hospitals in New Hampshire and Vermont. The Boston Globe looks at similar programs that offer hospitals a route around the specialist shortage, including Boston start-up Brain Saving Technologies, a for-profit company that is competing with Mass General. The use of telemedicine for early diagnosis of severe conditions like stroke "represents a frontier in medicine," the newspaper argues.
- see this article from the Boston Globe