DANVILLE, PA – After following the progress of eICU technology for seven to eight years, Geisinger Health System has decided to go for it.

The health system began its deployment of Philips VISICU eICU in September to 70 intensive care beds.

Geisinger, a physician-led network that runs three hospitals in central Pennsylvania, is known for its leadership on all healthcare fronts, particularly in the use of information technology. It was recently singled out by President Obama, as a model for high quality care at lower than average cost.

So, what took so long for the tech pioneer to add remote monitoring for its intensive care patients?

Geisinger executives always recognized the promise of eICU, said Howard Grant, MD, who oversaw the project, but they wanted to take the time to monitor and assess the technology to watch how it progressed. Also, Geisinger had other IT projects on its plate, including a system-wide implementation of its Epic electronic health record.

There is a compelling patient safety case for the eICU, and also a compelling business case, Grant said. The cost-per-case has been shown time and time again to go down with the use of an eICU, in some instances 20 percent to 30 percent, Grant said.

“It’s not complicated for a chief financial officer to do the math,” he said.

The goal, he said, is to reduce complications and reduce length of stay.

“The availability of a critical care physician at all times is greatly appreciated by the nursing staff,” Grant said. “It enables them and encourages them to utilize that resource more effectively. “

Less experienced ICU nurses especially appreciate having a second set of eyes monitoring their patients, Grant said.

At Inova Health System in Fairfax, Va., the eICU Center recently participated in a drill to gauge the role eICU programs can play in emergency triage and management of patient population and surge capacity for the critically ill.

“The eICU Program enables remote access to intensivists and trauma surgeons outside the area of emergency impact,” said Zachary Corrigan, executive director of the Northern Virginia Hospital Alliance. “Using the eCareMobile units with remote monitoring from the eICU Center, we can take full advantage of off-duty surgeons to help triage and stabilize patients while prioritizing those most in need of transfer.”

The VISICU eICU program combines early warning alerts and remote monitoring technology to connect off-site critical care specialists with intensive care unit patients and their bedside care teams.

For now, there will be one physician and two critical nurses staffing the eICU 24/7 at Geisinger. The eICU staff augments rather than replaces the healthcare providers at the bedside, Grant said.

“The real value for our clients is the program we’ve put around it,”
said Frank Sample, CEO of VISICU. The company cites its outcomes tracking and online decision-support as especially compelling.

 In Geisinger’s case, as is the case in other hospitals, employing a virtual ICU provides “strategic leverage” at a time when critical care nurses and doctors are in short supply. N
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