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UPHS Launching Life-Saving eICU® Technology

UPHS became the first health system in the tri-state area to go live with eICU® technology. The Health System’s Penn E-lert will permit remote “live” coverage of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) by practicing, critical-care physicians—intensivists­­via a comprehensive telemedicine system that includes early-warning software, order entry, clinical decision support, electronic documentation, and remote physiologic monitoring. Penn E-lert went on-line first in the ICUs in HUP (11/15/04) and Pennsylvania Hospital (12/01/04). 

“This new initiative brings UPHS to the forefront of cutting-edge technology focused on quality and patient care,” says Dr. C. William Hanson, medical director of the Penn E-lert program. “HUP and Pennsylvania Hospitals will set the mark on how to bring ICU care into the future, while at the same time, enhancing patient care.” The Penn E-lert system is expected to cover all adult ICU beds in the health system, including those at Presbyterian Medical Center, within 24 months.

Penn E-lert features real-time data, audio, and video monitoring of ICU patients by UPHS intensivists and critical-care nurses, all from one central command center—every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The command center —located at 3440 Market Street, Suite 304—is meant to supplement the on-site care provided in the ICUs by critical-care doctors and nurses, especially during off hours, such as nights and weekends.

The eICU® technology is a patented product of VISICU, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1998, located in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2002 the eICU® solution was recognized as one of the Top 100 technical innovations by Info World magazine and in 2001, the company won the Healthcare Informatics and Technology Award.

Penn E-lert will function like an air-traffic control center, providing assistance and guidance to the attending doctors, residents and nurses in the hospital ICUs. The system will be networked via voice, video, physiological monitors and other clinical data with the physicians and nurses in the hospital ICUs. “Penn is committed to enhancing care by utilizing the latest proven technology to more effectively manage a patient’s stay in the ICU. Over time, we expect Penn E-lert to help us significantly reduce mortality, complications, length of stay in the ICU, and overall healthcare costs,” adds Dr. Hanson.

 

 


  Almanac, Vol. 51, No. 14, December 7, 2004

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:

Tuesday,
December 7, 2004
Volume 51 Number 14
www.upenn.edu/almanac

 

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