Calming a Nervous System: Managing Rural Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Patients through Technology

Nearly half of Arkansas’s population lives in rural areas of the state, and patients in need of specialty care, like spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, often travel hours for ongoing care.  Moreover, many rural providers lack regular interaction with SCI patients and may not know best practices for their needs. Approximately 2,400 people in Arkansas live with SCI, 85% of which live in rural areas. To increase access to SCI care in Arkansas, the Spinal Cord Commission and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences launched TRIUMPH.

TRIUMPH operates a 24/7 specialty-nurse-staffed call center that provides on-the-spot triage and consultation to SCI patients, their caregivers, and providers across Arkansas. Utilizing case management software, nurses provide evidence-based advice on how to care for each caller’s concern.  The call center also connects rural emergency department providers through real-time interactive video with rehabilitation specialists to facilitate patient consultations or provider case teleconferences. Patient follow-up is facilitated throughinteractive video sessions to monitor their ongoing conditions. TRIUMPH also uses teleconferencing to foster collaboration between rural and urban providers to author evidence-based guidelines relevant to Arkansas’s rural resources and present live presentations in order to equalize care of SCI patients in all parts of the state. 

Since its launch in 2014, TRIUMPH has responded to 44 calls, authored five evidence-based guidelines, and hosted four live presentations. With plans to integrate traumatic brain injury (TBI) care through the call center in 2015, the program has the ability to reach over 8,000 TBI patients living in Arkansas.