Patients in rural parts of the state who become stroke victims are gaining better access to health care, and they’ll be getting that care online.

When it comes to treating a stroke, time is of the essence. But if you get sick in rural Georgia you might not have immediate access to a neurologist. The Georgia Partnership for Telehealth is partnering with doctors in larger Georgia cities to add 24-hour emergency stroke treatment via the web. GPT’s Gigi Goble says it means doctors in another part of Georgia can help local medical personnel save lives.

“There are certain symptoms that are entered in to this software so that the physician on the other end can go through and view what’s going on and he also, or she, has a video component at the same time.”

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Georgia.

Tags: Georgia, telemedicine, rural healthcare