Advocate Health Care eICU® Care program saves lives Cutting-edge ICU technology program adds 14 more beds at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center November 12th, 2003 OAK BROOK, Ill. - Advocate Health Care (Advocate) announced today that early results from its eICU® Care program showed a decrease of 12 percent in hospital mortality for intensive care unit (ICU) patients during the first five months (May to Sept. 2003) of its operation at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., and during the first four months (June to Sept. 2003) of operation at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill. As the preliminary findings of more lives being saved were made known, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago last week completed its initial rollout of 14 ICU beds into the eICU® Care program, bringing the Advocate system total to 90. Later this month, 20 more beds will go online at Illinois Masonic. The first 34 beds in Advocate's eICU® Care program began to go online April 22 at Lutheran General. Good Shepherd added 10 beds May 20; and Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital's rollout of 32 beds was completed Oct. 22. "These preliminary results are very exciting," said Jim Skogsbergh, president and chief executive officer of Advocate. "We believed all along that this significant investment in clinical technology would have a big impact on improving clinical outcomes for our sickest patients, but we never expected to see results like these within the first months of the program. We recognize that other variables influence data like this, but we do believe that the eICU® Care program has had a powerful impact on the numbers in such a short period of time." The overall baseline mortality percent in Lutheran General's ICUs was 9.7 percent (data from calendar year 2002). The five-month average for the eICU® Care program at Lutheran General was 8.6 percent. Good Shepherd's early result is based on an overall baseline mortality percent of 8.2 percent and a four-month average of 7.2 percent. Nearly 1,200 patients have been treated under the Advocate eICU® Care program's watchful eyes. The cutting-edge technology features around-the-clock, real-time audio and video monitoring of ICU patients at different hospitals, all from one central command center, 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, 365 days per year. But the eICU® Care program at Advocate is more than just monitoring. In conjunction with sophisticated decision-support software, board-certified critical care specialists and trained ICU nurses are able to consult with hospital staff and make real-time clinical decisions. Advocate is one of just four hospital systems around the country now using the state-of-the-art eICU® technology that is likened by some to an air traffic control center. By early to mid 2004, Advocate's eICU® Care program will extend to all 212 adult ICU beds across the Advocate system. "Saving lives is what it is all about, and the early results from Lutheran General and Good Shepherd are very positive," said Dr. Lee B. Sacks, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Advocate. "Lutheran General in particular continues to be a system leader for Advocate. Again this year - for the seventh year in a row - it has been recognized in Solucient's annual analysis as one of the '100 Top Hospitals' in the United States; and it's ranking as one of 'America's Best Hospitals' by U.S. News & World Report is something all of Advocate is very proud of." "We're now seeing that the eICU® technology is enhancing the already high quality of care provided at Advocate hospitals, while also helping to save lives," added Skogsbergh. "Over time, we continue to expect that the eICU® Care program will help us to achieve significant reductions in complications and mortality. This technology provides significant support for our critical care nurses, and an additional layer of safety that is readily evident to patients and their families." As the first hospital system in the Midwest to introduce the eICU® technology, Advocate is using an innovative method to achieve the Leapfrog Group's ICU safety goal of having intensivists available 24/7/365 for all ICU patients. Advocate has 66 board-certified adult critical care specialists in its system - a large number compared to most hospital systems around the country. eICU® is a registered trademark of VISICU, Inc. Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care, the largest health care provider in Illinois, has ranked among the nation's top 10 health care systems for six consecutive years. A faith-based, non-profit system, Advocate is related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ. Advocate's 200+ sites of care in metropolitan Chicago include eight acute care hospitals and two children's hospitals, a home health care company and three of Chicago's largest medical groups. With nearly 25,000 employees, Advocate is the second largest private employer in Chicago and the only health care provider listed among the 25 best places to work in Chicago. Through a long-term academic and teaching affiliation with the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center, Advocate trains more resident physicians than any non-university teaching hospital in Illinois. For more information about Advocate Health Care, please visit www.advocatehealth.com