MCG Stroke Program Wins Georgia Business Launch Competition
REACHMD Consult, a freestanding corporation based at MCG Health System, has won $100,000 in funding and $150,000 in in-kind services from the first-ever Georgia Research Alliance/Technology Association of Georgia New Business Launch Competition. Developed by the MCG Neuroscience Center, REACH provides expert telehealth stroke care via a secure Web portal.
“Stroke care is often not available to patients who present to rural hospitals,” says David Hess, MD, Chief of Neurology at MCG Health System and a member of the company’s Board of Directors. “Thanks to this award, we’ll now be able to commercialize and expand the REACH program even further.”
REACH has received inquiries from as far away as Connecticut, Montana, Wyoming, California, Minnesota and Alaska. In September 2006, Antonia C. Novello, MD, MPH, former U.S. Surgeon General and current Commissioner of New York Department of Health, announced a statewide initiative to deploy REACH in more than 50 hospitals in upstate New York
REACH stands for Remote Evaluation of Acute IsCHemic Stroke. Using a web cam and computer database, MCG Health System neurologists provide stroke care to rural hospitals 24/7 by helping medical professionals administer tPA, the clot-busting drug that can mitigate the debilitating effects of a stroke if given within three hours.
MCG physicians can actually see patients via a secure feed, evaluate physical signs and symptoms, download information regarding medical history from the participating hospital and send back instructions.
Current REACH partners are McDuffie Regional Hospital (Thomson, Ga.), Emanuel County Hospital (Swainsboro, Ga.), Jenkins County Hospital (Millen, Ga.), Wills Memorial Hospital (Washington, Ga.), Washington Regional Medical Center (Sandersville, Ga.), Morgan Memorial Hospital (Madison, Ga.), Jefferson County Hospital (Louisville, Ga.) and Elbert County Hospital (Elberton, GA).
The REACHMD Consult Board of Directors is composed of Dr. Hess; Rich Bias, MCG Health, Inc. Senior Vice President of Ambulatory and Network Services; Dr. Mike Gabridge, MCG Associate Vice President for Technology Transfer and Economic Development and Director of the Life Sciences Innovation Center, and Bill Hamilton, MCG Health, Inc. Administrative Director of the Neuroscience Center.
