Tecnologia salva vidas? Uma avaliação do impacto da telemedicina no tratamento do AVC

Abstract

The present study objective is evaluating the effects of teleneurology in Stroke in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Since stroke is the disease with the highest percentage of deaths in adults in Brazil and the main cause of disability in the world, teleneurology appears as a innovative way of providing neurological services (consultations, diagnoses, treatments) remotely. The objective of this study is to evaluate if the hospitals that have implemented telemedicine have better mortality rates and average days of stay when compared to hospitals that does not use such technology. The difference-in-differences model with fixed effects was used to measure the impact of technology on patient mortality, mean hospital stay days and stroke volume. There was a decrease in the mortality rate for ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke, and an increase for non-specified stroke. A decrease in transient schemic attack volume was also observed. There were no effects on average days of stay in hospital admission. It is believed that the results observed were the result of telemedicine implementation in the sense that the hospitals that implemented it receive support from medical specialists to provide the diagnosis of stroke and the treatment to be performed.