A few months ago, we told you about an emerging solution addressing the shortage of physicians to staff ICU beds. The solution, known as an eICU, is a care monitoring system that lets one physician monitor critical data on patients in multiple hospitals while remaining in one remote location. Now, here's some more examples of a hospital that's decided to go the eICU route.
Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines has rolled out its own eICU, which monitors not only 54 patients on four ICUs within its main campus, but also 80 patients at a satellite location some 200 miles away in Sioux City. The eICU at Mercy is staffed by intensivist doctors and critical care nurses who monitor the patients' vitals 24/7. Not only does the eICU extend the capabilities of specialists across more units, it also brings specialized expertise to rural hospitals, Mercy execs noted. While patients pay nothing extra for the added monitoring, the hospitals are paying user fees for the eICU service.
To learn more about the new eICU:
- read this Des Moines Register article
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