The technology platform was developed by VISICU, a Baltimore-based company which has been acquired by Royal Philips Electronics. VISICU’s first eICU facility was installed at Sentara Health System in Norfolk, Virginia in 2000.
This eICU technology combines clinical management software with patient data and real-time video feeds, enabling the remote care and monitoring of critically ill patients. The technology has proven itself even over long distances, with the United States military monitoring an ICU in Guam from an eICU facility in Hawaii, a distance of 3,000 miles.
Part of the eICU technology platform is the eCareManager™, a dashboard view of key patient information such as vital signs, physiologic data, medications, lab results and more ― giving remote clinicians the data they need to provide patient care. Remote care tools, such as cameras and videoconferencing, allow eICU physicians and nurses to see and communicate directly with patients, families and onsite clinicians. The system also provides automated alerts, which identify potential patient problems and allow physicians to intervene earlier.
Advanced ICU Care’s eICU Operations Center, located in St. Louis, is staffed by intensivists and critical care nurses who monitor patients throughout the country.