Delaware doctors to monitor Maryland ICU patients electronically

Under a program known as Maryland eCare, six Maryland hospitals facing a shortage of emergency room doctors plan to use physicians in Delaware to electronically monitor intensive care patients. Under the $3 million program, a critical care doctor or intensivist based at a command center in Wilmington, DE, will oversee overnight care for as many as 150 patients and provide guidance to on-site nurses. Officials said the collaboration with the hospitals is needed, especially in exurban and rural areas.