Advanced ICU Care® Brings New Standard of Around-the-Clock Monitoring to Intensive Care Patients at Tuomey Healthcare System

Program Begins April 4, 2012

ST. LOUIS, MO (January 3, 2012) -- Tuomey Healthcare System's critically ill patients will soon have the benefit of the most advanced telemedicine program available in hospital intensive care units today. Beginning April 2012, the hospital will partner with Advanced ICU Care®, the nation's largest independent provider of tele-ICU services, to deliver monitoring by highly trained intensivist physicians and critical care specialists 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing an extra layer of care that enhances patient safety.

Tuomey Healthcare System is one of the first hospitals in the state of South Carolina to implement such a program and to meet the latest recommendation to have intensivist physicians monitoring intensive care patients around-the-clock. Tuomey Healthcare System's program is part of a growing trend of utilizing telemedicine to transform care and the financial performance in Intensive Care Units.

"It is now recommended that every hospital with 10 or more ICU beds offer a tele-ICU program," noted Mary Jo Gorman, M.D., M.B.A., chief executive officer for Advanced ICU Care. "Tele-ICUs are becoming an integral part of critical care. Our team is excited to collaborate with the physicians and clinicians at Tuomey Healthcare System Hospital, supporting them in providing the best possible care and safety for their patients."

Dr. Gene Dickerson, vice president of medical affairs at Tuomey Healthcare System said, "This new partnership with Advanced ICU Care is part of our commitment to continually innovate and improve services for our patients and our community. With the addition of around-the-clock telemonitoring by intensivist physicians to the level of quality care already provided by our ICU team and physicians in the hospital, our ICU patients will receive the highest level of medical care available today."

Independent studies demonstrate that this 24/7 intensivist monitoring significantly improves patient outcomes and patient safety in the critical care unit. In fact, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrates how implementation of a tele-ICU intervention was associated with reduced mortality and reduced hospital length of stay, as well as with improvements in best practice adherence and lower rates of preventable complications. Another study published by the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) recommends that community hospitals with 10 or more ICU beds adopt tele-ICU care.

However, the current serious shortage of intensivist physicians means that many hospitals cannot provide the recommended coverage within their facilities. Advanced ICU Care answers the call by providing a solution that involves board-certified intensivists, telemedicine and best practices that maximize the effectiveness of a hospital's ICU.

The Advanced ICU Care model of continuous patient surveillance, provided by board certified critical care clinicians using best of breed telemedicine technology sets a new standard of performance in intensive care medicine. The team of intensivists and critical care nurses will work remotely around-the-clock complementing the care provided by the Tuomey Healthcare System physicians. The program will continuously monitor real-time patient vital signs, medications, labs and the patient's medical history. Proactive data management tools will identify problems before they become urgent, prompting immediate intervention when necessary. Two-way video access in each patient's room enables face-to-face consultations between the bedside and Advanced ICU Care team.

The patient's care will continue to be directed by their physician at the hospital and the hospital ICU staff. Advanced ICU Care will collaborate to ensure that each patient receives coordinated immediate attention when needed.

About Tuomey Healthcare System Hospital
Tuomey Healthcare System is a multi-faceted healthcare organization with a 301-bed medical center serving Sumter, Lee and Clarendon counties. Tuomey's healthcare resources deliver the very best medical care available bringing better technology, more advanced protocols, expanded facilities and a more diverse clinical staff with expertise to meet every patient's need. For more information, visit the website at www.tuomey.com.

About Advanced ICU Care
Advanced ICU Care® provides a model of continuous intensive care unit (ICU) patient surveillance, supported by board certified intensivists using best of breed telemedicine technology. Through experienced clinicians and their unique process improvement program, Advanced ICU Care is setting a new standard of performance in intensive care medicine for critically ill patients across the country. Hospital ICUs are linked with Advanced ICU Care's Monitoring Center, allowing Advanced ICU Care's team of board-certified intensivists and critical care nurses to monitor hospital ICU patients from a central location. For more information, visit www.icumedicine.com.

Media Contact Information:
Angela Pena
angela@scottpublicrelations.com
818-610-0270

Brenda Chase
brenda.chase@tuomey.com
803-744-8662