JACKSON, MS – University of Mississippi Health Care, which includes five hospitals and 722 beds, has gone live with its new eICU program, aimed at boosting the care of critically ill patients in rural communities of Mississippi.

UMHC rolled out technology developed by Philips VISICU. As the first health system in the region to implement the eICU program, UMHC will serve as the lead resource for critical care across the state.

UMHC is using the Philips VISICU eICU Program and its clinical decision support and remote monitoring capability to connect off-site UMHC critical care physicians and nurses to ICU patients and their bedside care teams. The remote eICU team continuously monitors patient conditions to alert bedside staff of potential problems before they occur and guide early intervention and treatment.

"We are excited to be expanding our patient care services to include this layer of critical care support at the state's only academic medical center," said David Putt, interim CEO of University Hospitals and Health System. "Our mission is to provide the highest quality care to our communities, and this program gives us the means to enhance that level of service in partnership with Delta Health Alliance and with other Mississippi hospitals."

UMHC's Intensiview Program supplements existing bedside care with the remote eICU team collaborating with the ICU team to provide early intervention and optimal care. The eICU team includes an intensivist physician specially trained in caring for critically ill patients and critical care nurses providing remote 24x7 supplemental support to the bedside care teams. UMHC also plans to use the Intensiview Program to enhance critical care training for nursing and medical students as part of its ongoing commitment to clinical education.

Intensiview will be used to monitor 83 beds, including all ICU beds, four beds for transplant patients and four beds for stroke patients.

Intensiview services will be expanded to other hospitals across the state, starting with Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville, Miss., an arrangement made possible through financial assistance from Delta Health Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in Stoneville, Miss., that advocates, develops and implements collaborative programs to improve the health of citizens in the delta.