Aurora docs see healthy future with eICU

Cameras link hospital to specialists 24 hours a day

Green Bay Press-Gazette, Feb. 15, 2006

By Jean Peerenboom

Intensive-care patients at Aurora BayCare Medical Center are now connected to off-site critical care specialists 24 hours a day, seven days a week under the center's eICU system.

The system connects the intensive care unit to a command center in Milwaukee through telemedicine technology, including early warning software and advanced video and electronic monitoring.

"This gives me an extra set of eyes now, and if I want a second opinion, I can have it right away," said Dr. Raul Mendoza, Aurora BayCare's director of critical care.

Elaine Anschutz of Green Bay appreciated the new system, which went up Jan. 31, when her father was recently admitted.

"At the time, I wasn't aware of the magnitude of the technology," she said. "After things calmed down, I noticed the camera. I got a sense of reassurance and peace that he was being observed all the time.

"It was comforting knowing all the possible avenues were being explored. Afterward, the doctor explained it. I thought it was wonderful to have that extensive medical team available," she said.

Over time, the information and data collected on patients will go into an anonymous database, allowing the hospitals to look at how their care and treatment compares to other hospitals, he said. It also will allow doctors to compare patients with similar illnesses or injuries.

For example, Mendoza said, if someone comes in with head trauma, doctors can look in the database to see outcomes and treatments for others with head injuries.

"Unlike other eICU models, we have the capability to compare outcomes in terms of patient care among the other ICUs within our system," he said.

Aurora hospitals in Cudahy, Hartford, Kenosha and Milwaukee are also connected to the Milwaukee command center. The other six Aurora hospitals in the state will eventually go online as well, linking a total of 253 intensive care beds throughout eastern Wisconsin.

At Aurora BayCare, 2845 Greenbrier Road in Green Bay, rooms are regular rooms outfitted with a monitor and a super-high-definition camera that can read even the labels on medicine bottles and pumps, Mendoza said. The monitor is connected to the nursing station and to a station in Milwaukee. The data is fed into both systems, and a hard copy is automatically printed out in case the electronic system fails. The camera faces away from the patient until a button on the wall is pushed.

"We are monitoring the patient with more control," Mendoza said. "It's not that the doctor is monitoring from afar. This means an extra set of eyes."

The doctor in Green Bay can videoconference with staff members at the command center through cameras on the monitors in the nursing stations.

"I can see all the information at once," he said. "I still check the patient, but this system has all the information in one place."

All the patient's data goes to one central location, Mendoza said. Notes for the doctors and nurses and test results can be pulled up on a single screen.

"The system constantly monitors patients for signs of trouble, allowing for the most rapid and effective response whenever necessary," said Dr. Paul Summerside, Aurora BayCare president. "Virtual ICU monitoring and management doesn't replace the physicians and nurses at the bedside, but it does provide a further layer of patient care and safety."

The technology addresses a continuing challenge for today's health-care providers the shortage of physicians who specialize in intensive care medicine.

The eICU system expands the reach of experts, allowing them to direct the care of patients at smaller, rural hospitals that typically would not have that level of expertise available, Summerside said.