Coined "Skype on Wheels" by health care workers, Baylor Health Care System in Grapevine recently implemented a new system called "Telemedicine" which connects patients with specialty doctors in emergency situations.

"When patients come in with symptoms of a stroke there is a window where they can be prescribed t-PA, a clot-busting drug," Susan Hall said, the Baylor Grapevine media representative. "However, only a neurologist can prescribe the drug."

The drug t-PA is a tissue plasminogen activator that works by dissolving the blood clot that is causing the stroke. It is best given right away after the stroke and is typically injected directly into a vein. Because it is a specialized drug, a normal emergency room doctor cannot prescribe it.

Baylor Grapevine does not have a neurohospitalist in its emergency room at all times, but the Baylor hospital in Downtown Dallas does, so the telemedicine system can connect the neurologist in Dallas to the ER in Grapevine so he can review the case and prescribe the drug.

"We use the phrase 'time is brain.' The longer the clot is in there the more damage that will occur.