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Patient/Family FAQs
Follow the links below to navigate directly to specific questions.
- How can patients be cared via telemedicine?
- What about patient privacy?
- Is tele-ICU monitoring as safe as on-site monitoring?
- Who staffs the tele-ICU?
- Who does procedures/emergency procedures, if they are needed?
- What technology does Advanced ICU Care use?
- What is telemedicine?
- What is a tele-ICU?
- What is an intensivist?
- Why was Advanced ICU Care formed?
- How can I be sure my privacy is protected if I'm being monitored constantly?
- Does my care by the tele-ICU intensivists add to the cost of my healthcare while in the ICU?
How can patients be cared via telemedicine?
Clinical decisions in the ICU are often based on a large and continuous stream of data, from physiologic data and laboratory results to vital signs and medications. This data is communicated electronically in real time to both bedside caregivers and virtual specialists. This provides tele-ICU intensivists and nurses the information they need to continuously monitor and analyze patient data, essentially providing an extra layer of care for patients.
Telemedicine-based care of intensive care unit (ICU) patients using tele-ICU technology adheres to the high standards for quality care established by hospitals. Telemedicine-based management of ICU patients has been evaluated in two clinical studies, both demonstrating a 25 percent to 30 percent reduction in hospital mortality for ICU patients.
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What about patient privacy?
Patient information is secure and confidential. The technology provides the highest level of electronic data security and meets the latest security and privacy recommendations of the federal government (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - HIPAA). While there is a camera, speaker and microphone in each room, this communication system is only activated by request from the bedside nurse or during prescribed "rounds." It is readily apparent when the camera is activated (it moves from pointing at the wall to pointing at the patient's bed) and an audio signal is used to alert the nurse who may be in the patient's room. There is no capability for recording video or audio and patient privacy is respected when rounds are required.
Is tele-ICU monitoring as safe as on-site monitoring?
Tele-ICUs have been proven to improve care. A recent study found that hospitals that adopted tele-ICU technology saw a 36 percent decrease in deaths in the ICU. In fact, tele-ICU monitoring provides an extra layer of care for patients.
Who staffs the tele-ICU?
The Advanced ICU Care 's Monitoring Center is staffed by on-site, fellowship-trained, board-certified intensivist physicians, Acute/Critical Care Nursing (CCRN)-certified critical care nurses and healthcare assistants. Our nurses have an average of 20 years of critical care experience.
Who does procedures/emergency procedures, if they are needed?
All hospitals have processes in place to deal with common emergency procedures. These include dedicated in-house personnel (physician assistants, critical care nurse practitioners, house physicians, hospitalists, anesthesiology personnel and emergency department physicians) or specialty physicians on call from home (cardiologist for pacemakers, etc.). Tele-intensivists coordinate these activities, maintaining the nurse at the bedside.
What technology does Advanced ICU Care use?
Our technology platform was developed by Philips VISICU, Inc. The technology combines clinical management software with patient data and real-time video feeds, enabling the virtual care and monitoring of critically ill patients. The technology has proven itself even over long distances.
Part of the technology platform is the eCareManager™, a dashboard view of key patient information such as vital signs, physiologic data, medications, lab results and more ― giving virtual clinicians the data they need to provide patient care. Telemedicine tools, such as cameras and videoconferencing, allow tele-ICU physicians and nurses to see and communicate directly with patients, families and on-site clinicians. The system also provides automated alerts, which identify potential patient problems and allow physicians to intervene earlier.
Advanced ICU Care's tele-ICU Monitoring Center, located in St. Louis, is staffed by intensivists and critical care nurses who monitor patients throughout the country.
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What is telemedicine?
Telemedicine applies audio and video applications to patient and healthcare providers' interactions. Telemedicine may be used for continual care, such as the Advanced ICU Care program used for the evaluation of specific problems to enhance diagnosis and treatment decisions, such as consultation with a specialist.
What is a tele-ICU?
A tele-ICU uses telemedicine technology that combines clinical management software with virtual-care tools - including patient data and video feeds - to allow intensivists and critical care nurses to virtually care for patients in hospital ICUs. Data is collected on a continuous basis and trends in patient status are collated and responded to in real time. This allows for urgent and emergent issues to be addressed immediately. Advanced ICU Care uses the eICU® technology platform developed by Philips VISICU, Inc. to help leverage scarce intensivist resources and to virtually direct patient care. Our Monitoring Center is staffed by intensivists and critical care nurses who can monitor and care for a large number of ICU patients in multiple hospital locations, thousands of miles away.
What is an intensivist?
Intensivists are physicians who have received training in critical care beyond their primary residency. They initially train in and receive board certification in a specific medical specialty, such as surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics or anesthesiology. Subsequently, they train in and obtain a subspecialty certification specifically in critical care medicine.
A unique feature of the training is collaboration with others to deliver optimized patient care. Intensivists deliver care in a hospital's intensive care unit (ICU), partnering with critical care team members including other consultant physicians, critical care nurses, pharmacists and respiratory therapists. They are generally the team leader, facilitating all members to meet the patient's complex needs. They are specially trained on all the organ systems, as well as the medications, procedures and technology specific to the treatment of critically ill patients. They also help to set policies, develop protocols and facilitate communication within the ICU.
Studies show that care by intensivists greatly improves the quality of care in the ICU. The Leapfrog Group, created to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans, has identified intensivist staffing as one of its "safety standards," and reported more than 54,000 ICU deaths could be avoided if this standard were implemented.
Why was Advanced ICU Care formed?
Our mission is to improve access to critical care expertise and deliver best practices to patients by leveraging telemedicine technology. We provide improved outcomes with measurable results to acute care hospitals through talented clinicians supported by cutting-edge technology.
The management and medical staff of many community hospitals have experienced the difficulty and frustration of attempting to recruit a sufficient number of intensivists to staff their intensive care units (ICU). The difficulty in recruiting intensivists to many hospitals is due to:
- The nationwide shortage of critical care medicine physicians
- The abundance of opportunities in major metropolitan areas where many of these physicians have trained
- The reluctance of some intensivists to practice in a hospital without high acuity and volume
To address these challenges, Advanced ICU Care was formed. The company delivers intensivist expertise to ICUs through the use of sophisticated clinical management and communications technology, along with a process improvement program.
How can I be sure my privacy is protected if I'm being monitored constantly?
Tele-ICU technology is never used to eavesdrop on patients' activities or conversations. Patients are made completely aware of any time they are being observed by a doctor or nurse, just as they would by bedside caregivers in the hospital. When the critical care nurse or tele-intensvists "enters" the patient room, a doorbell sounds to alert the patient and family members. Our critical care team does monitor patient vital signs, such as heart rate or oxygen levels, continually through the devices that the patient is attached to while they are in the ICU.
Does my care by the tele-ICU intensivists add to the cost of my healthcare while in the ICU?
No. In fact, tele-ICUs help reduce healthcare costs overall, making ICUs more efficient. For example, increasing the productivity of physicians in the local community can alleviate long delays in scheduling appointments, which, in turn, can help doctors identify medical issues earlier. The increased efficiency also means that patients may be able to stay in their local community for care instead of traveling to see a specialist in another community.
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