New ICU Technology Creates Eye in the Sky

Evan Sweeney, for HealthLeaders Media, September 3, 2009

The clinical practice committee that oversees the eICU, made up of five medical executive committees, hospital presidents, and vice presidents, created a set of rules to alleviate that big brother feeling, including:

• When the camera clicks on in a patient room, a bell rings to alert the on-site employee that the camera has been turned on
• Twice a day, the on-site nurse and the eICU nurse conducted interdisciplinary care rounds with the patient and their family, which fosters a working relationship between the bedside staff and eICU staff

"It took us sort of actively intervening and teaching people how to act as a team in order to establish that relationship and not feel like the presence of eICU is intrusive; the presence of eICU is really being a part of their team," Kestner says.

This process even elicited praise from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius when she visited to experience this interaction first hand during a visit to Alegent’s Lakeside Hospital last month.

Absorbing the cost
Of course, as with any elaborate technology, the eICU comes at a hefty price. Kestner acknowledges Alegent was only able to integrate their rural hospital because of a USDA Rural Development grant.

Some might argue that having that extra set of eyes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, will decrease infections, length of stay, and shorten patient days throughout the unit, which ultimately benefits the hospitals financials. But Kestner says it’s certainly worth it from a patient satisfaction and efficiency perspective.

"I think the way we are looking at it is length of stay for the whole hospitalization, shortening length of stay in the whole ICU, shortening length of stay on the ventilator," Kestner says. "We just have our baseline data, so I’m not sure we can say we have absolutely saved enough money to offset the initial expense, but it allows us going forward remain efficient."

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Evan Sweeney is an editorial assistant at HCPro. He manages and writes for Briefings on Infection Control, a monthly newsletter directed at IC compliance. He also blogs for OSHA Healthcare Advisor, a resource center for infection control and safety professionals, and regularly contributes to Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, which focus on healthcare employee safety and health.

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