A Collaborative Tele-Neurology Outpatient Consulation Service in Karnataka: Seven Years of Experience From a Tele-Medicine Center.

Background: Neurology services in rural and semi-urban part of India are very limited, due to poor infrastructure, resources, and manpower. Tele-neurology consultations at a non-urban setup can be considered as an alternative and innovative approach and have been quite successful in developed countries. Therefore, an initiative to bridge this health gap through Tele-Medicine has been taken by the Government of India. Aim: To study the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of patients who have received collaborative Tele-Neurology consultations from the Tele-Medicine Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru. Methodology: We reviewed case files of such patients between December 2010 and March 2017. A total 189 collaborative tele-neurology outpatient consultations were provided through the Tele-Medicine Centre, located at a tertiary hospital-based research centre in southern India. Results: The mean age of the patients was 39.6 (+/-19) years and 65.6% were aged between 19 to 60 years; 50.8% were male. The most common diagnosis was a seizure disorder in 17.5%, followed by cerebrovascular accident/stroke in 14.8%. Interestingly, 87.3% were found to benefit from tele-neurology consultations using interventions such as a change of medications in 30.1%, referral to a specialist for review in 15.8%, and further evaluation of illness and inpatient care for 7.93%. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated the successful implementation of outpatient-based collaborative tele neurology consultation in Karnataka.