Abstracts

Rationale: The evaluation process for a potential epilepsy surgical patient is one of multiple complex tests, clinic appointments, and conference reviews. This process usually involves a multi-disciplinary approach. A pre-surgical evaluation may include: Long-term video EEG monitoring, MRI, Neuropsychological evaluation, fMRI, Wada, MEG, PET, SPECT, and Visual Field testing. Having a point person or Epilepsy Care Coordinator for all epilepsy surgery patients allows for faster processing of pre-surgical testing which then leads to a more timely surgery date. Methods: A total of 42 patient charts were extracted from an epilepsy surgery database. The patient charts covered a span of 2 years and 5 months. (January 2011 - May 2014) Out of the 42 charts, 32 patients were evaluated for epilepsy surgery prior to having an Epilepsy Care Coordinator and 10 patients were evaluated for epilepsy surgery after an Epilepsy Care Coordinator was in place. From these dates the median time lag was calculated (in days) and compared by using the date of the first surgical suggestion and the date of the actual surgery date. Results: For the 32 patients that were seen prior to implementation of an Epilepsy Care Coordinator, the median from first consideration of a surgical option to actual surgery date was 417 days. When compared to the 10 patients that were seen after an Epilepsy Care Coordinator was in place, with a median of 112 days from first consideration of a surgical option to actual surgery date, p= 0.003. Conclusions: Establishing a point person such as an Epilepsy Care Coordinator can expedite the process from first consideration of a surgical option in clinic to surgery, resulting in a greater number of patients being able to move through the surgical process. It is anticipated that with patients going through the surgical evaluation in a timelier manner; better use of the surgical testing equipment and more epilepsy surgeries in a shorter timeframe can be achieved.