Closing the Gap Between Expert Medical Care and Location

A Look at the Newly Launched Software Connecting Providers Across New York State to Upstate Stroke and Burn Experts

Upstate Medical University has a defined mission to extend its telemedicine capabilities, not only within the walls of its two hospitals, but also to expand the market in which Upstate is able to provide stroke and burn care in rural areas and communities in the Central New York Region.

One of the most significant achievements of Upstate's telehealth initiative is breaking down geographical barriers to healthcare access, allowing providers and patients, particularly those in rural or underserved areas, to access medical expertise and consultations without the need to travel long distances, especially in the case of highly critical cases, such as stroke or burn patients.

On June 11^th, Upstate’s eHealth initiative rolled out a new, advanced telemedicine platform to support remote consultations for Upstate’s Telestroke and Teleburn programs. ExtendedCare is an interactive computer video conferencing platform hosted on a secure internet network that allows Upstate expert stroke and burn physicians to have instant access to the Emergency Department of partnering regional hospitals on a 24/7 basis. While Upstate has been providing telestroke and telebrun consultations to partner hospitals, consolidating the telehealth platforms into ExtendedCare creates consistency and allows for more robust support.

ExtendedCare is also integrated into Upstate’s electronic health record, Epic, which allows Upstate providers to instantly add new images to a patient's medical file from the video call, which improves efficiencies for Upstate and its partner providers.

Using ExtendedCare, Upstate physicians can join the patient, family, and healthcare provider at the outlying hospital and hear and see each other in real-time. In addition to the telemedicine technology, which allows the patient to see the consulting physician, the entire team of Upstate specialists is able to view and discuss patient scans, images and test results in real-time. This advanced technology enables physicians at Upstate to become virtual “on-site” consultants for outlying hospitals that do not have stroke and burn specialists on staff.

About Upstate’s Expert Telestroke and Teleburn Programs

Upstate’s Comprehensive Stroke Center

Upstate University Hospital holds the distinction of having become the first hospital in the Central New York region to be awarded DNV Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification. That designation encompasses the full spectrum of stroke care—diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and education—and establishes clear metrics to evaluate outcomes. This certification addresses hospitals with personnel, infrastructure, and expertise to diagnose and treat stroke patients, who require intensive medical and surgical care, specialized test or interventional therapies.

A Comprehensive Stoke Center (CSC) delivers the highest quality of care to the most complex cases, offering evidence-based treatments with cutting edge research protocols. A CSC also functions as a resource center for other facilities in their area, offering guidance and consultation for triage of patients, providing expertise about managing particular cases, making diagnostic tests or treatments available to patients, and being an educational resource for other hospitals.

Comprehensive stroke centers are typically the largest and best-equipped hospitals in a given geographical area that can treat any kind of stroke or stroke complication. Upstate University Hospital has also been recognized by the American Heart Association with the 2023 Get With the Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus & Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus.

Benefits of Stroke Telemedicine:

Provide immediate access to stroke care experts.
Provide prompt medical evaluation and accurate diagnosis of stroke.
Initiate timely thrombolytic treatment to improve outcomes and reduce risks and complications from a stroke.
Provide 24/7 access to specially-trained neurologists and neurosurgeons specializing in stroke care.
Provide access to catheter-based stroke treatment, including intraarterial thrombolysis, stenting, and clot retrieval devices.
The stroke telemedicine initiative also includes a comprehensive education program for medical staff, nursing staff, ancillary personnel, and pre-hospital care providers.

Upstate’s Telestroke Network:

Samaritan Medical Center
River Hospital
Carthage Area Hospital
Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center
Gouverneur Hospital
Canton-Potsdam Hospital
Lewis County General Hospital
Massena Hospital
Oswego Hospital
Upstate Community Hospital
Joseph’s Hospital
Clifton-Fine Hospital
Oneida Health Hospital

Upstate’s Clark Burn Center

Upstate University Hospital’s Clark Burn Center is a vital resource in New York State. Every year, approximately 486,000 individuals seek care for burn injuries, with an average of 3,275 resulting in a death. Burn care is a unique specialty not available in all hospitals. The United States has 133 burn centers and about 300 burn surgeons to support them. Clark Burn Center is the only burn center for the central and most of the northern and eastern portions of New York State. The Center covers a large geographic area in the state–37 counties–along with two counties in Pennsylvania and parts of Canada, with a combined population of over 3.5 million people. The Center cares for both adult and pediatric patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings.

Clark Burn Center is a verified American Burn Association (ABA) ‘Verified Burn Center’. Burn Center verification provides a true mark of distinction for a burn center and is an indicator to government, third-party payers, patients, families, and accreditation organizations, that the center provides high-quality patient care to burn patients from the time of injury through rehabilitation.

Benefits of Burn Telemedicine:

Allows for specialized burn care that is limited by distance and resources for many patients, particularly those living in poverty or in rural, medically underserved communities. Telemedicine allows for rapid access to remote medical expertise by telecommunication and information technologies.

Assists with triage decision making.
Allows for more effective triage to reduce unnecessary time and resources demanding referrals that might overwhelm system capacities.
Assistance in the estimation of burn size and severity, guidance with fluid resuscitation, and appropriate airway management.
Greatly improves survival and enhanced outcomes for patients who have suffered a burn or inhalation injury.

Upstate’s Teleburn Network: