Emergency Departments' Uptake of Telehealth for Stroke Versus Pediatric Care

In this study, we surveyed a national sample of EDs with telestroke services and all EDs with pediatric telehealth services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these EDs, whether using telehealth for telestroke, pediatric telehealth, or both, the single most commonly reported factor driving telehealth use was for the purpose of improving clinical care. Policy- or certification-related reasons were selected as a motivator by many EDs, more often for telestroke services than for pediatric telehealth services. However, when asked about the single most important reason, the vast majority of all EDs indicated that telehealth was used for improving clinical care.