Winter 2009 Newsletter

What's New

Union Hospital Health Group extends specialty care with Advanced ICU Care program

Union Hospital and West Central Community Hospital in Terre Haute and Clinton, Ind., will begin using Advanced ICU Care's eICU® program in the spring of 2009 in their 34 ICU beds. Advanced ICU Care's intensivists and critical care nurses will provide continuous remote care and monitoring for patients seven days a week, 24 hours a day, supporting the local physicians and nurses.

Union also plans to extend these capabilities to other providers throughout the Wabash Valley region. This will allow patients to remain in their local hospitals and communities, with their families close by, while providing greater access to specialized intensivist care and technologies. Click here for more information.

Demonstrating commitment to quality, Advanced ICU Care earns Joint Commission accreditation

By meeting The Joint Commission's national standards for healthcare quality and safety, Advanced ICU Care has earned Joint Commission accreditation for ambulatory care, recognized nationally as the Gold Seal of Approval(TM) in healthcare. The company sought accreditation to demonstrate its commitment to the highest standards in patient safety and quality. Accreditation also strengthens Advanced ICU Care's ability to partner with hospitals on physician credentialing and privileging, allowing for greater efficiencies and demonstrating the company's high physician standards.

"Achieving accreditation by The Joint Commission demonstrates that Advanced ICU Care has voluntarily sought an independent evaluation of its compliance with state-of-the-art performance standards," said Michael Kulczycki, executive director, Ambulatory Care Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. "This exceptional distinction sets Advanced ICU Care apart," added Kulczycki, "particularly as a provider in the area of ICU telehealth." Click here for more information.

Advanced ICU Care named one of the best places to work in healthcare

Modern Healthcare has named Advanced ICU Care to its list of the "100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare." Advanced ICU Care ranks number 26 among the top 100 companies and number 21 among the 80 healthcare providers who made the list. View the complete lists.

Advanced ICU Care scores high marks from employees on leadership and communication, among other areas. Nan Lennartz, critical care services office manager for Advanced ICU Care, underscores the company's focus on communication. "The company's mission is clear from the moment you first begin working here, and we all work together towards the same goal -- to extend critical care expertise and improved outcomes to ICU patients."

In developing the list, Modern Healthcare partnered with Best Companies Group, a firm that administers "best places to work" programs nationwide. The ranking was based on two criteria: an analysis of company policies and practices, benefits, and demographics and the opinions of company employees.

Our People

Sandi Aubuchon joins as associate director of operations

In this role, Aubuchon oversees Advanced ICU Care's eICU Monitoring Center nursing and healthcare associate staff. She also helps steer clinical program implementation at new hospitals and supports customer service across Advanced ICU Care's client hospitals. Previously, Aubuchon held leadership and clinical research positions at Stereotaxis, Inc., a St. Louis company providing magnetic navigation technology to hospitals. Before joining Stereotaxis, Aubuchon spent 10 years in cardiology research, having developed and led cardiology clinical research organizations for both St. Louis University School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine. Aubuchon has nearly 20 years nursing experience in intensive care and cardiac rehabilitation as a manager, clinical specialist, and staff nurse.

Toby Thomas joins Advanced ICU Care board

Adding to the depth and breadth of its board, Advanced ICU Care appointed Toby Thomas to the board of directors. With nearly 20 years financial and operational experience in the healthcare and technology sectors, Thomas currently serves as chief executive officer of Autism Spectrum Therapies, a provider of comprehensive services for individuals with autism. Previously, Thomas was chief financial officer for Cogent Healthcare, Inc., a leading provider of inpatient management services with operations in 17 states.

Janice Buckhold named healthcare recruiter

Janice Buckhold has been named healthcare recruiter for Advanced ICU Care. Previously, she was a physician recruiter for Spectrum Healthcare Resources, with full-cycle recruitment experience with physicians, mid-level practitioners, registered nurses, and medical support staff. She holds a bachelor's degree from Webster University in St. Louis.

Renette Jordan joins as credentialing assistant

Renette Jordan has been named credentialing assistant, responsible for securing and maintaining physician and nurse state licenses and medical privileges in all states in which Advanced ICU Care physicians and nurses practice. Jordan comes to Advanced ICU Care from Spectrum Healthcare Resources, where she served as a senior credentials coordinator. She is a member of the National Association of Medical Staff Services and holds a master's degree from Webster University in St. Louis and a bachelor's degree from National-Louis University in Chicago.

Nurse Nook

Getting past the "remote" in remote critical care

How can the sickest patients be cared for remotely? It's a fair question. Patients in intensive care units are more ill than ever before. Continuing advances in medicine and technology have kept more people out of the hospital, but they also have allowed us to treat sicker patients, many of whom may not have survived in the past.

By partnering together, remote and local caregivers can provide the best possible care for patients in the ICU. Clinical decisions are often based on a continuous stream of patient information, from physiologic data and laboratory results to vital signs and medications. But physical needs of the critically ill patient, as well as family support, can sometimes keep nurses from keeping a constant eye on patient data and trends. Through the eCareManager®, part of the eICU® technology employed by Advanced ICU Care, this data is communicated electronically in real time, giving remote intensivists and nurses the information they need to continuously monitor and analyze patient data. Essentially, it provides an extra set of eyes on each and every patient.

Advanced ICU Care clinicians look for subtle changes in a patient's condition, picking up on potential problems before they occur and allowing physicians to intervene earlier. The system also provides automated alerts, signaling a change in patient status or process/care reminders.

Remote nurses and physicians also serve as ready resources and help support the implementation of best practices at the bedside. Advanced ICU Care intensivists and nurses are looking at the same data as the local nurse, at the same time, and they also can see and communicate with patients, staff, and families through remote care tools. They are available 24/7, which significantly reduces the need for physician paging -- and waiting -- allowing nurses to focus on providing the best possible care for the patient.

To learn more, contact Sandi Aubuchon or Scott Turner.

The Bottom Line

Investing in technology to improve patient safety and reduce costs

Investing in technology is important, but only if it accomplishes its goals -- whether those revolve around improved patient care, better throughput, or reduced costs. Ministry Health Care's Saint Clare's Hospital, which implemented Advanced ICU Care's tele-intensivist program in 2006, has seen ICU and hospital wide results from the technology.

For starters, actual ICU mortality at Saint Clare's is as much as 77 percent lower than the mortality rate predicted by patients' APACHE IV scores. Over the past year, actual ICU mortality rates have averaged 45 percent lower than predicted rates.

These results are consistent with published research showing that intensivist-led care -- whether provided by an intensivist physically present in the ICU or though telemedicine -- improves patient safety. According to the Leapfrog Group, research shows a 40 percent reduction in ICU mortality and a 30 percent reduction in hospital mortality when ICU patients are managed or co-managed by intensivists. Similarly, a study in the Journal of Critical Care Medicine shows that tele-intensivist care resulted in a 27 percent plunge in severity-adjusted hospital mortality for ICU patients, a 17 percent drop in length of stay, and a 13 percent decline in overall hospital length of stay.

Length of stay results at Saint Clare's also are meaningful, suggesting not only fewer patient complications and improved quality of care, but also reduced ICU costs. Over the last four quarters, actual length of stay in the ICU at Saint Clare's has averaged 27.5 percent lower than predicted length of stay. Actual hospital-based length of stay for patients who had been in the ICU has decreased by as much as one-third from predicted. Considering that the cost of critical care is so high, a 27 percent-plus decrease in length of stay can result in considerable cost savings for the ICU.

Quality results like these also can help support other service lines, including neurology, surgery, and others. Supported in part by the success of the eICU program, Saint Clare's has attracted general and cardiothoracic surgeons to the hospital.

To learn more, contact Gary Anderson or Scott Turner

eICU® and eCareManager® are registered trademarks of Visicu, Inc.