24/7 Care When It’s Needed Most

Research shows ICU patients benefit from telemedicine

Added layer of care—This advanced patient-monitoring system enables Lehigh Valley Health Network tele-intensivists like Matthew McCambridge, M.D., to continuously monitor the condition of every patient in our intensive care units, 24/7.

Telemedicine—the use of technology, video conferencing and remote monitoring to connect doctors and patients—has lifesaving benefits. People with the most serious injuries or illnesses receive care in our Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa. and Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem, Pa. Filled with state-of-the-art equipment, our ICUs are staffed by critical care nurses and specially educated physicians, called intensivists.

Our ICU patients are also monitored using telemedicine from a high-tech, off-site location, where additional critical care intensivists and nurses monitor ICU patients throughout the night, assuring the highest level of care 24/7. Our Advanced ICU (AICU), employs high-resolution audio/visual systems that allow our intensivists to see the patient and talk with other doctors, nurses and families in the patient's room. Each evening, one tele-intensivist along with three critical care nursing colleagues monitor more than 140 patients from the AICU and respond whenever intervention is necessary, not waiting until a crisis has been discovered.

A new research study conducted by a team at Lehigh Valley Health Network shows this use of telemedicine lowers death in critically ill patients by nearly 30 percent, and reduces the use of mechanical ventilation. The study results were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Lehigh Valley Health Network has one of the industry’s most advanced electronic charting systems, which automatically captures and transmits data from bedside monitors and equipment to the AICU, miles away. Customizable “events” inform our intensivists about serious changes in the patient’s condition so they can act immediately to address the problem. The electronic charting system also eliminates much of the bedside paperwork, freeing caregivers to spend more time with patients.

Tele-intensivists do not replace bedside care, because we continue to have the same number of physicians and critical care nurses at the bedside. Instead, it provides an added and higher layer of care to help detect problems earlier and provide faster treatment. This, in turn, reduces complications, shortens hospital stays and saves lives.

This page last updated 6/9/10 09:48 AM