Alexandra Wilson Pecci, HealthLeaders Media
“Steven L. Kelley, president and CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital in Ellenville, NY, admits that he’s a bit “fanatical” when it comes to efficiency.
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Barbara Toman, Discovery's Edge
“When President Barack Obama cites Mayo Clinic as a model healthcare provider, he praises its “smart” practices that offer patients the best possible care at below-normal cost. Mayo’s expertise in treating disease is well-known. But the presidential accolades underscore Mayo’s pioneer work in an emerging science of healthcare delivery.
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Nicole Lewis, InformationWeek Healthcare
“Critical access hospitals (CAHs) that serve approximately 20% of the U.S. population living in rural communities, have fewer clinical capabilities, a lower quality of care, worse patient outcomes, and are less equipped with health information technology to support clinical workflows, a national study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found.
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Kahn JM et al, Chest, 140(1)
ICU telemedicine uses audiovisual conferencing technology to provide critical care from a remote location. Research is needed to best define the optimal use of ICU telemedicine, but efforts are hindered by methodological challenges and the lack of an organized delivery approach. We convened an interdisciplinary working group to develop a research agenda in ICU telemedicine, addressing both methodological and knowledge gaps in the field. To best inform clinical decision-making and health policy, future research should be organized around a conceptual framework that enables consistent descriptions of both the study setting and the telemedicine intervention. The framework should include standardized methods for assessing the preimplementation ICU environment and describing the telemedicine program.
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Lilly CM, Thomas EJ. Journal of Intensive Care Medicine, 25(1)
Tele-intensive care unit (ICU) is a care provided to critically ill patients by off-site clinicians using audio, video, and electronic links to leverage technical, informational, and clinical resources. Providing care includes the ability to detect patient’s instability or laboratory abnormalities in real-time, collect additional clinical information from or about the patient, order diagnostic testing, make diagnoses, implement treatment, render other forms of intensive care such as managing life-support devices, and communicate with patients and bedside providers.
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Nguyen, Yên Lan et al, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2010
Variation in the quality of critical care services across hospitals coupled with an emerging workforce crisis necessitate system-level change in the organization of intensive care. In this review, we evaluate three alternative organizational models that may expand access to high-quality critical care: tiered regionalization, intensive care unit telemedicine, and quality improvement through regional outreach. These models share a potential to increase survival and reduce costs. Yet there are also major barriers to implementation, including the lack of a strong evidence base and the need for significant upfront financial investment. Reorganization of intensive care will also require the support of all involved stakeholders: patients and their families, critical care practitioners, administrative and public health professionals and policy makers.
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