Military hospitals often suffer staffing shortages in the area of critical care because of recruitment and deployment issues. The eICU^® solution enables the military to create a network of coverage that leverages larger military hospital personnel across all the facilities in the continental United States and beyond.

General Harold Timboe, MD, commanding general of Walter Reed Army Medical Center emphasized the importance of obtaining the funding to expand the VISICU program. "With this Congressional appropriation, Walter Reed Army Medical Center will now be able to leverage limited U.S. Army intensivists across multiple military hospitals. We will start with bases in the continental U.S., but we will ultimately be able to provide care to military personnel overseas, speeding the time to medical intervention and reducing the effects of casualties."

Colonel Tom Fitzpatrick, MD, chief of critical care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, emphasized, "The Army is committed to deploying the most advanced technology possible to ensure the care of its soldiers, retirees and beneficiaries." He added, "With the VISICU eICU^® solution we can provide an electronic care network that includes video cameras, advanced software, decision support tools and telecommunication technology that permit real-time clinical evaluation of critically ill patients from a distant site. This technology will clearly extend our reach and improve clinical care."

According to Colonel Benjamin Berg, MD, chief of critical care at Tripler Army Medical Center, "This project will pair Army and Navy healthcare organizations in the largest geographic region covered by a single tertiary facility in the DOD and TRICARE. Using the eICU^® solution we will be able to treat critically ill patients faster in our remote healthcare facilities and should also be able to decrease requirements for transporting these patients long distances by air."