Intermountain Healthcare Enhances Patient Care with TeleCritical Service in all Intensive Care Units
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA, April 21, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Critically ill patients now have an extra layer of support thanks to the installation of TeleHealth technology in intensive care units at all Intermountain Healthcare hospitals with an ICU. This technology includes a secure interactive audio and video system that connects critical care patients in every Intermountain ICU with the TeleCritical Care Support Center in Midvale, Utah, where a team of 22 doctors and 20 nurses work with bedside teams to monitor and care for patients.
“We’ve had incredible success so far,” says Bill Beninati, MD, an intensivist who helped lead the implementation of this technology. “We proactively monitor the vital signs and data of critically ill patients and connect with bedside caregivers through cameras and audio links in every room.
In the highly intense environment of an ICU, this extra layer of support can ease the pressure on our bedside doctors and nurses, while helping to improve outcomes for our sickest patients.”
Intermountain, like some other healthcare systems and hospitals across the country, implemented this innovative technology to address some formidable challenges, including:
• An aging population and increasing number of critical care patients
• A projected shortage of intensivist physicians and critical care nurses
• An environment of healthcare change and reforms to the payment system
• Requests from rural hospitals for clinical expertise and support that would allow patients to remain in their local critical care units when appropriate
“Intermountain’s TeleCritical Care Program is the largest program of its kind in Utah ICUs, providing an extra layer of support to our staff and our most critical patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says Intermountain’s chief medical officer, Brent Wallace, MD. “With 263 critical care beds across twelve facilities from southwest Utah to southern Idaho, the TeleCritical Care program enhances Intermountain’s ability to provide access to quality care for our patients, regardless of where they are, at no additional cost to them.”
The implementation of TeleHealth technology does not replace the vital role of on-site caregivers. Instead, TeleCritical Care specialists work directly with the bedside medical team to determine the appropriate course of action for each patient, serve as real-time clinical decision support, ensure best practices and consistency of care, and provide a safety net for bedside staff and patients. Studies show that healthcare systems and hospitals that implement this supplemental care model experience shorter lengths of stay, decreased complications and lower mortality rates in ICU patients.
Early statistics show Intermountain’s TeleCritical Care program is improving medical outcomes in community hospitals, where they can now care for sicker patients, keeping them closer to their home and network of support instead of transferring them to larger hospitals.
TeleCritical Care has been implemented in ICUs at the following Intermountain hospitals:
• American Fork Hospital
• Alta View Hospital
• Cassia Regional Medical Center
• Dixie Regional Medical Center
• Intermountain Medical Center
• LDS Hospital
• Logan Regional Hospital
• McKay-Dee Hospital
• Park City Medical Center
• Riverton Hospital
• Utah Valley Regional Medical Center
• Valley View Medical Center
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with some 1,300 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit intermountainhealthcare.org, read our blogs at intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs, connect with us on Twitter at twitter.com/intermountain and on Facebook at facebook.com/intermountain.
“We’ve had incredible success so far,” says Bill Beninati, MD, an intensivist who helped lead the implementation of this technology. “We proactively monitor the vital signs and data of critically ill patients and connect with bedside caregivers through cameras and audio links in every room.
In the highly intense environment of an ICU, this extra layer of support can ease the pressure on our bedside doctors and nurses, while helping to improve outcomes for our sickest patients.”
Intermountain, like some other healthcare systems and hospitals across the country, implemented this innovative technology to address some formidable challenges, including:
• An aging population and increasing number of critical care patients
• A projected shortage of intensivist physicians and critical care nurses
• An environment of healthcare change and reforms to the payment system
• Requests from rural hospitals for clinical expertise and support that would allow patients to remain in their local critical care units when appropriate
“Intermountain’s TeleCritical Care Program is the largest program of its kind in Utah ICUs, providing an extra layer of support to our staff and our most critical patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says Intermountain’s chief medical officer, Brent Wallace, MD. “With 263 critical care beds across twelve facilities from southwest Utah to southern Idaho, the TeleCritical Care program enhances Intermountain’s ability to provide access to quality care for our patients, regardless of where they are, at no additional cost to them.”
The implementation of TeleHealth technology does not replace the vital role of on-site caregivers. Instead, TeleCritical Care specialists work directly with the bedside medical team to determine the appropriate course of action for each patient, serve as real-time clinical decision support, ensure best practices and consistency of care, and provide a safety net for bedside staff and patients. Studies show that healthcare systems and hospitals that implement this supplemental care model experience shorter lengths of stay, decreased complications and lower mortality rates in ICU patients.
Early statistics show Intermountain’s TeleCritical Care program is improving medical outcomes in community hospitals, where they can now care for sicker patients, keeping them closer to their home and network of support instead of transferring them to larger hospitals.
TeleCritical Care has been implemented in ICUs at the following Intermountain hospitals:
• American Fork Hospital
• Alta View Hospital
• Cassia Regional Medical Center
• Dixie Regional Medical Center
• Intermountain Medical Center
• LDS Hospital
• Logan Regional Hospital
• McKay-Dee Hospital
• Park City Medical Center
• Riverton Hospital
• Utah Valley Regional Medical Center
• Valley View Medical Center
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with some 1,300 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit intermountainhealthcare.org, read our blogs at intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs, connect with us on Twitter at twitter.com/intermountain and on Facebook at facebook.com/intermountain.
Daron Cowley
Intermountain Healthcare
801-442-2834
email us here