Six Rural Maryland Hospitals Will Use Electronic System To Remotely Monitor ICU Patients From Delaware

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Public Health;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 01 May 2008 - 8:00 PST

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Six rural Maryland hospitals facing shortages of emergency department physicians will use an electronic monitoring system provided by Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., to remotely monitor intensive care patients, the Washington Post reports. Under the Maryland eCare program -- the "first of its kind in the nation," according to the Post -- a video camera and computer terminal in a patient's room will send vital signs, test results and information about patient responsiveness to Christiana, where a physician and several nurses will view the data and photographs on high-resolution computer monitors. If the staff members in Wilmington detect a patient's health deteriorating, they can communicate with on-site nurses to provide guidance (Greenwell, Washington Post, 4/29). There will be one physician in Wilmington per 150 patients and one nurse per 30 patients (Johnson, CQ HealthBeat, 4/28).

The monitoring technology, known as eICU, was developed by Baltimore-based medical technology firm Visicu (Washington Post, 4/29). The service, which costs about $37,000 annually per intensive care unit bed, runs from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day (CQ HealthBeat, 4/28). The Maryland program is funded by a $3 million grant from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield of Maryland (Burling, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/29). BCBS officials said it could take up to three years to fully implement the system (CQ HealthBeat, 4/28).

Hospital officials say the system will drastically reduce response times during overnight hours in intensive care units because a nurse can immediately speak with a physician, rather than wait for a return call from an on-call doctor (Washington Post, 4/29). Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, said, "Obviously the first choice is to have the professional there in the facility. But this represents one of the creative, innovative approaches that are being tried out there in rural America now." He added, "Work force shortages are the No. 1 issue in rural America when it comes to health care" (CQ HealthBeat, 4/28).

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