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| Service Line | Critical Care |
| Applications | Telemedicine for intensive care |
| Current Standard of Care | Bedside patient monitoring by intensivists |
| Principal Vendors | VISICU, Inc. (Soon to be acquired by Philips) |
| (Quasi) Competing Technologies | Potentially iMDSoft EMR, Cerner, Eclipsys |
| Risk of Obsolescence | Low |
| Adoption Status | More than thirty U.S. Health Systems |
| Projected Cost | Likely to vary by institution: $4-6M in upfront costs in hardware, software, buildout; $10-$13M in expenses across 5 years |
| Reimbursement Status | No incremental reimbursement for inpatient use |
What Is It?
eICU®, a proprietary system by VISCU, Inc., is an application of remote telemedicine technology in which several intensivists and nurses monitor multiple intensive care units (ICUs) form an off-site command center.
How Does It Work?
Using computers and VISICU software, as well as in-room audiovisual equipment, physicians and nurses are able to monitor patients from a central location -- usually a room outfitted with a
suite of computing equipment. Alerts programmed on proprietary software by VISICU allow the eICU® team to know when a patient is veering from "normal" status; the team can then alert the attending physician or order care directly. Additionally, the eICU® team can help to maintain best-practices through standardization of evidence-based medicine processes across a system.
What Problem Does It Solve?
The eICU® system may alleviate, if not eliminate, the current shortage of intensivist physicians felt across the nation, especially for large system hospitals.