Neurological disorders are diverse, complex — and common, significantly affecting nearly 50 million (one in five) Americans per year and costing the nation more than $600 billion in direct and indirect costs each year.

Hospitals have been under pressure for decades to reduce admissions, which means most patients who do get admitted are sicker and in need of more complex decision making and care planning. Neurology patients tend to have higher rates of complications such as confusion, pneumonia and death when they are admitted to the hospital. For older patients, any hospitalization can result in a decline in cognitive abilities — even if cognition was seemingly normal before, and even if the hospitalization was non-critical.

As our population ages, more and more of us will find ourselves in the emergency room in a neurological crisis. The need for specialized testing, diagnosis and treatment is imperative. We need to be able to be cared for by experts in inpatient neurologic care; hence the creation of a neurohospitalist model of care here at The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

• Stroke
• Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
• Neurology

In an effort to reduce the long-term negative impact of stroke on our community, the Brain & Spine Institute has organized services into a seamless Comprehensive Stroke Center. University Neurohospitalists provides provider coverage as part of the stoke team to meet the unique and specialized needs of stroke patients.

The Comprehensive Stroke Center at UT Medical Center has the critical elements to achieve long-term success.

University Neurology provides a hospital follow-up clinic.  The clinic provides services to patients requiring rapid neurology follow-up that meet the following criteria and improve outcomes for patients. The stroke team is made up of physicians, nurses, social workers, dietitians, rehabilitation professionals, therapists, pharmacists and home care specialists.

• Patient requires neurology follow-up after discharge from the hospital
• Patient requires neurology follow-up after discharge from the emergency department