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Perspectives: Patients The ICU is traditionally regarded by patients and families as the safest, highest quality area of the hospital. And in fact, it is. But, it could be better. Patient mortality in the ICU is 12%. Clinical complications occur frequently, and so do medical errors. As a matter of fact, in 1998 the Institute of Medicine identified medical errors as the number one health care quality problem in the US. A subsequent study by the Kaiser Foundation showed that medical errors were the single biggest concern of patients. Nowhere are these errors more prevalent than in the ICU, where patients are complex, decisions must be made quickly, and numerous drugs and treatments are being given simultaneously. In the early 1980s, a new type of specialist emerged: the intensivist, a physician who after completing a residency in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, anesthesia, or surgery, completed a fellowship in critical care and became Board-certified in critical care medicine. These specialists, when they are present in the ICU, significantly improve patient outcomes. The problem is, there are not enough of them. While every ICU patient might want to be under the 24 hour care of an intensivist, we would need to increase the number of practicing Intensivists sixfold to meet this demand. In reality, only 12% of ICU patients in the US has dedicated intensivist care. This is the central problem that VISICU is trying to solve with the eICU® approach. The eICU® solution uses networking and information technology -- not to
replace bedside care, but to make it possible for Intensivists to be "virtually"
present when they cannot be physically present. This technology is the
most cost-effective way of achieving the 24-hour expert standard of care
that every ICU patient deserves. |
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