News Feature | July 24, 2014

Remote Monitoring In The ICU

By Karla Paris

5 Hot Healthcare Technology Innovations To Look For In 2014

Implementation of eICU helps St. Luke’s Health System shift to a proactive care model that addresses physician and nurse shortages while improving the quality of patient care.

The nursing workforce grew more rapidly than government forecasters predicted as baby-boomer nurses delayed retirement. According to Bloomberg, demand for nurses may out pace this growth due to more coverage for healthcare through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as projected physician shortages and population growth and aging.

St. Luke's Health System, in Boise, ID, is addressing this potential nurse shortage head-on with its integration of a unique patient monitoring system, called eICU — electronic care unit, for its intensive care patients. eICU allows a team of doctors and nurses to monitor patient rooms remotely.

The electronic intensive care unit (eICU) is an application of remote telemedicine technology in which critical care nurses from within St. Luke’s system monitor multiple intensive care units and assist in ICU management from a centralized control room.

The eICU model uses state-of-the-art technology to monitor critically ill patients providing the tools for the hospitals’ ICU staff to intervene early in patient care while applying practices that are proven to improve patient outcomes.

Phase one of the program implementation began in January 2013, monitoring all St. Luke’s critical care beds in Boise and Meridian. Phase two began August 2013, when the eICU expanded to monitoring critical care beds in St. Luke’s Magic Valley. Phase three, the final phase, is well underway with emergency services support added for its critical access hospital partners in Wood River, Jerome, McCall, and Mt. Home.

The final phase will conclude with the addition of critical care beds in West Valley Medical Center, Vibra Hospital of Boise, and Southwest Idaho Advanced Care Hospital as well as emergency support in Gooding and Grangeville.

As the only Idaho-based, not-for-profit health system, St. Luke’s Health System is part of the communities it serves, with local physicians and boards who further its organization’s mission to improve the health of people in its region.

St. Luke’s, along with Meridian, was named the top hospital in Idaho by U.S. News & World Report. “It’s an honor to be recognized by U.S. News and to share the recognition with Kootenai Medical Center,” said St. Luke’s Health System President and CEO Dr. David C. Pate. “National rankings are a validation of St. Luke’s continued efforts to improve the quality and safety of our care while delivering on our mission to improve the health of people in our region.”

St. Luke’s Health System consists of nine facilities including:

 

Source: St. Luke’s