Mercy announces plans for Iowa's first eICU
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2007
Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City has announced it will join Mercy Medical Center -- Des Moines in establishing an eICU program, a state-of-the-art enhancement of critical care.
The two medical centers, both ministry organizations in the Iowa-based Mercy Heath Network, will be the first hospitals in Iowa to use Baltimore-based VISICU Inc.'s eICU technology which will allow intensive care physicians, called intensivists, to monitor patients remotely in multiple intensive care units.
Using sophisticated technology, the intensivists support local physicians, nurses and other caregivers at the bedside and help monitor ICU patient information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Mercy plans to have the eICU program fully in place by next January.
Dr. Larry Sellers, chief medical officer for Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City, said the hospital's implementation of advanced critical care telemedicine marks a significant medical first in region.
"This historic project will most certainly enhance care and patient safety for Siouxland residents who are critically ill or injured," he said. "The eICU program serves as a safety net around the patient, nurse and attending physicians. It provides close, constant monitoring and the continuous availability of critical care physicians' skills and expertise.
"In a traditional ICU setting, even full-time intensivists cannot be at an ICU patient's bedside every hour of every day to monitor progress and maintain patient care plans. Yet we know that the critical and sometimes unstable condition of ICU patients -- along with the typical complexity of their medical treatment -- warrants very close monitoring.
"Along with the highly capable, skilled physicians, nurses and other professionals directly taking care of the patient in Sioux City, another team of seasoned physicians and experienced critical care nurses will use leading-edge technology and evidence-based medicine to provide added support and monitoring from an off-site location. The result will be extraordinary care for the patient," Sellers added.
Sellers and other Mercy leaders emphasized that the patient's own attending physician still will make all final decisions regarding his or her plan of care even after the eICU program is fully implemented.
Mercy will employ VISICU's latest technology release featuring an integral nursing documentation system and two-way video for improved efficiency and workflow between the ICU bedside team and the eICU support team. eCareMobile also will be used to extend eICU connectivity for rapid response to any room within the hospital.
Vital signs, medication information, blood test results, X-rays and other information from bedside monitors and the patient's electronic medical record are sent to the eICU team via secure, high-speed data lines.
The clinical information is displayed on computers exactly as it is seen in the hospital room for the doctors and nurses to view. The eICU team also has powerful computer systems that continuously analyze the information and alert them to possible problems.
"While the kind of technology used in an eICU program is impressive, it will never replace human interaction, the most important element of health care," Sellers explained. "That warm touch and the great sense of compassion and trust that exists between a nurse or physician and their patient, is absolutely essential. It won't be lost or forgotten."
"We are simply making great care even better," Sellers added.
Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City will implement the eICU program in all three of its ICU "pods" or patient care units which house a total of 24 critical care beds.
Many of the adult and pediatric patients treated at Mercy's regional Level II trauma center receive care in the hospital's ICU. Patients who have just had major surgery including open-heart procedures, and those suffering from acute illness typically make up the rest of the patient population in Mercy's ICU on an average day.
After initially establishing the eICU's remote monitoring capabilities at Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City and on two Mercy -- Des Moines campuses, the hospitals eventually will expand eICU capabilities throughout the Mercy Health Network which includes 31 rural communities that are part of the system's rural health network.
The two medical centers, both ministry organizations in the Iowa-based Mercy Heath Network, will be the first hospitals in Iowa to use Baltimore-based VISICU Inc.'s eICU technology which will allow intensive care physicians, called intensivists, to monitor patients remotely in multiple intensive care units.
Using sophisticated technology, the intensivists support local physicians, nurses and other caregivers at the bedside and help monitor ICU patient information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Mercy plans to have the eICU program fully in place by next January.
Dr. Larry Sellers, chief medical officer for Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City, said the hospital's implementation of advanced critical care telemedicine marks a significant medical first in region.
"This historic project will most certainly enhance care and patient safety for Siouxland residents who are critically ill or injured," he said. "The eICU program serves as a safety net around the patient, nurse and attending physicians. It provides close, constant monitoring and the continuous availability of critical care physicians' skills and expertise.
"In a traditional ICU setting, even full-time intensivists cannot be at an ICU patient's bedside every hour of every day to monitor progress and maintain patient care plans. Yet we know that the critical and sometimes unstable condition of ICU patients -- along with the typical complexity of their medical treatment -- warrants very close monitoring.
"Along with the highly capable, skilled physicians, nurses and other professionals directly taking care of the patient in Sioux City, another team of seasoned physicians and experienced critical care nurses will use leading-edge technology and evidence-based medicine to provide added support and monitoring from an off-site location. The result will be extraordinary care for the patient," Sellers added.
Sellers and other Mercy leaders emphasized that the patient's own attending physician still will make all final decisions regarding his or her plan of care even after the eICU program is fully implemented.
Mercy will employ VISICU's latest technology release featuring an integral nursing documentation system and two-way video for improved efficiency and workflow between the ICU bedside team and the eICU support team. eCareMobile also will be used to extend eICU connectivity for rapid response to any room within the hospital.
Vital signs, medication information, blood test results, X-rays and other information from bedside monitors and the patient's electronic medical record are sent to the eICU team via secure, high-speed data lines.
The clinical information is displayed on computers exactly as it is seen in the hospital room for the doctors and nurses to view. The eICU team also has powerful computer systems that continuously analyze the information and alert them to possible problems.
"While the kind of technology used in an eICU program is impressive, it will never replace human interaction, the most important element of health care," Sellers explained. "That warm touch and the great sense of compassion and trust that exists between a nurse or physician and their patient, is absolutely essential. It won't be lost or forgotten."
"We are simply making great care even better," Sellers added.
Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City will implement the eICU program in all three of its ICU "pods" or patient care units which house a total of 24 critical care beds.
Many of the adult and pediatric patients treated at Mercy's regional Level II trauma center receive care in the hospital's ICU. Patients who have just had major surgery including open-heart procedures, and those suffering from acute illness typically make up the rest of the patient population in Mercy's ICU on an average day.
After initially establishing the eICU's remote monitoring capabilities at Mercy Medical Center -- Sioux City and on two Mercy -- Des Moines campuses, the hospitals eventually will expand eICU capabilities throughout the Mercy Health Network which includes 31 rural communities that are part of the system's rural health network.
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