LRGH to partner with Dartmouth-Hitchock Connected Care for TeleNeurology services

LACONIA — LRGHealthcare is partnering with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care to provide acute care TeleNeurology services to patients at Lakes Region General Hospital and Franklin Regional Hospital. In a crisis, D-H TeleNeurology brings a vascular neurologist to the patient’s bedside within minutes, supporting the local clinical team with prompt assessment and treatment recommendations.

D-H Emergency TeleNeurology provides board-certified neurologist consultation to hospital emergency rooms, intensive care units, and other inpatient locations for stroke and all other neurologic emergencies, as well as same or next day response options for non-emergency inpatient consults. The D-H TeleNeurology service can help reduce unnecessary transfers and keep patients closer to home. Currently the transfer rate following D-H TeleNeurology consult is about 10%.

“The goal of D-H Connected Care is to help deliver outstanding care to our region independent of patient location,” said Kevin Curtis, MD, MS, medical director of D-H Connected Care. 

In the case of stroke, studies have shown that early and effective treatment saves lives and prevents long-term disability. A telemedicine consultation by a neurologist brings the expertise of a stroke center to the bedside of the patient, improving outcomes, reducing patient risks, shortening hospital stays, and lowering costs through more timely and accurate diagnosis. This partnership provides the infrastructure to help LRGHealthcare achieve Stroke Center certification, a designation developed by the American Heart Association and The Joint Commission to recognize hospitals that meet standards to support better outcomes for stroke care.

Kevin W. Donovan, president and chief executive officer of LRGHealthcare said, “This initiative will provide our patient population with the most efficient and best quality neurologic emergency and stroke care available, in partnership with another New Hampshire based health system. Working with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care will allow us to move towards Stroke Center Certification and provide more local care with a respected and trusted partner.”