Abstract Details

Title Telemedicine for epilepsy patients – an emergence of the 21st century clinic

Topic Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology (EEG)

Presentation(s) P3 - Poster Session 3 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 6-031

Objective To demonstrate the feasibility of telemedicine in an outpatient, university-based epilepsy clinic and to assess the patient and provider satisfaction with telemedicine.

Background Patients with epilepsy have unique barriers to accessing medical care, especially secondary to driving restrictions due to seizure risk. Telemedicine enables providers to offer care remotely in a cost-effective, convenient manner. Telemedicine in various forms has demonstrated good outcomes in several patient populations and in many clinical settings. We conducted a feasibility study looking at use of telemedicine for patients with epilepsy.

Design/Methods Eight consecutive adult epilepsy patients were prospectively enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) outpatient epilepsy clinic. For the purposes of the feasibility study, the patients who were non-English speaking, had intellectual disability without caregiver availability were excluded. After each telemedicine visit a standardized patient satisfaction survey was automatically sent to the patient to assess willingness to participate again, technical issues, and satisfaction with the clinic experience and medical provider. A provider satisfaction survey was obtained at the end of the study. Other outcome measures included no-show rate, distance traveled, and clinic cost.

Results All patients who filled out the survey were satisfied with their session and would choose telemedicine over face-to-face visits in the future. The telemedicine visits had 100% show rate and decreased encounter time. Cost analysis demonstrated no significant change in reimbursements while a UCLA healthcare system saved $28 on each telemedicine visit compared to an in-person clinic visit.

Conclusions Telemedicine is a feasible alternative for epilepsy patients and satisfied to patients and providers. Telemedicine met the needs of patients who lived far from the clinic and facilitated care for patients without driving privileges. In the future, we plan to look at impact of epilepsy telemedicine on rates of emergency department visits and urgent hospital admissions.

Authors/Disclosures
Melissa Reider-Demer, DNP, MN, CNP (UCLA Medical Group) PRESENTER	Dr. Reider-Demer has nothing to disclose.
Dawn Eliashiv, MD, FAAN (UCLA)	Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Neuropace. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for Medtronic. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for UCB. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for eisai. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for SK Lifesciences. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for UCB. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Medtronic's. Dr. Eliashiv has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for neuropace. The institution of Dr. Eliashiv has received research support from NINDS. The institution of Dr. Eliashiv has received research support from Neuropace. Dr. Eliashiv has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.
John M. Stern, MD, FAAN	Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for UCB Pharma. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for SK Life Science. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Neurelis. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Ceribell. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for Jazz Pharma. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for LivaNova. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Neurelis. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for LivaNova. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Sunovion. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Jazz. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for SK Life Sciences. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for MedLink Neurology. Dr. Stern has stock in DEARhealth. Dr. Stern has stock in Ceribell. Dr. Stern has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Stern has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Stern has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Stern has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.
Inna Keselman, MD, PhD (UCLA)	Dr. Keselman has nothing to disclose.
Marc R. Nuwer, MD, PhD, FAAN	Dr. Nuwer has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for Several law firms. Dr. Nuwer has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.

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