User satisfaction with realtime teleneurology

User satisfaction (i.e, that of patients, medical staff at a remote hospita l and medical staff at a neurological centre) with realtime teleneurology c onsultations was studied prospectively. Twenty-five patients with neurologi cal problems admitted to a hospital without permanent neurological cover we re assessed from a neurological centre by specialist neurologists using rea ltime video-links transmitting at 384 kbit/s. All users reported high level s of satisfaction with the technical aspects of the consultations. Patients , almost universally, reported confidence in teleneurology as a means of de aling with their presenting complaints. Similarly, medical staff at either site felt confident in managing patients using teleneurology and almost alw ays felt that a telephone consultation would not have achieved as good an o utcome. No major organizational problems were identified. These findings su ggest overall user satisfaction with realtime teleneurology for managing pa tients with neurological problems admitted to hospitals that do not have re sident neurologists.