HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson Tours eICU® Facility at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital April 7th, 2003 On March 13th, 2003, Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian and Dr. Michael A. Berman, Executive Vice-President and Hospital Director of NewYork-Presbyterian, hosted Tommy G. Thompson, U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary, at a specially arranged tour of the new eICU® facility at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Secretary Thompson's eICU® visit coincided with National Patient Safety Week, a national education and awareness-building campaign for improving patient safety at the local level. Secretary Thompson used the forum to speak to New York City medical personnel, local officials and the community members at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital about the critical importance of information technology in the effort to ensure the health and safety of patients. During the eICU® tour Secretary Thompson participated in a demonstration of the eICU® technology, which included interacting with a patient through the high fidelity video-assessment system followed by a face-to-face visit with the ICU patient following the virtual meeting. Currently, 48 ICU and step-down beds at NewYork-Presbyterian's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center are connected to the eICU® facility, with plans to add NewYork-Presbyterian's Weill Cornell Medical Center in May. Eventually, the eICU® system will be made available throughout the 30-hospital NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System. "Catching trends early, and addressing them quickly, is vital in critical-care medicine," says Hal Wasserman, M.D., medical director of the eICU® facility at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The new system will help make early detection and intervention possible because the eICU® adds an additional complementary level of monitoring and care to our ICU and step-down patients". Frank Sample, President and CEO of VISICU applauded the visit and stated that, "Secretary Thompson's enthusiasm for the eICU® is indicative of the current Administration's belief that health care information technology is key to providing the patient safety that U.S. hospitals need and should aspire to". About VISICU, Inc. VISICU, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1998 by two intensivist physicians, is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The eICU® solution enables hospitals to standardize ICU care across multiple hospitals and leverage scarce intensivist talent. From a centralized eICU®, intensivists and nurse's monitor and care for ICU patients through a high-fidelity telemedicine network, that has been likened to air traffic control. The proprietary software is used to proactively manage patients and electronically connect the "patient to the doctor". A Cap-Gemini E&Y study of the eICU® proved the clinical and financial benefits and the eICU® is currently the only technology solution that enables hospitals to meet the Leapfrog Group's ICU patient care safety standards. VISICU won the 2001 Healthcare Informatics and Technology Award and in 2002 the eICU® was recognized as one of the Top 100 technical innovations by InfoWorld magazine. For more information please visit www.visicu.com. eICU® is a registered trademark of VISICU, Inc.