Implementation of a critical care telemedicine system with smart data analysis and electronic documentation / Frank D. Sites, C. William Hanson III, Margaret Mullen-Fortino

The Penn E-lert eICU programIQ is a state-of-the-art electronic ICU (eICU) that provides an additional layer of expert medical and nursing support for critically ill patients located in the Universty of Pennsylvania Health System. The Penn E-lert eICU is staffed by Penn faculty intensivists from the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and the Department of Internal Medicine and Surgery, as well as by experienced critical care nurses. Our mission is to establish a uniform, data-driven, benchmark, critical care standard in our health system. Implementation of the eICU program involved installation of an eICU software package across the health system, conversion to an all electronic bedside documentation system, and development of new care paradigms including eICU communications with the bedside team. Variations in individual unit governance are proving to be more challenging than the technology itself. Individual unit successes are evident, in which physician acceptance and engagement are strong. An agreed upon strategic roadmap for individual units with the key physician and nursing stakeholders needed to market and deliver the process is essential for obtaining measurable outcomes. When the eICU system is used in the clinical setting to document and oversee patients in the ICU, transparent documentation and staff acceptance may prove to be the most important indicators for successful implementation. Further study is needed to determine conclusively the variations from unit to unit and hospital to hospital in the use of the eICU telemedicine programs.

Nursing.