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Telemedicine in hospitals as demonstrated by patient, nurse, and physician

Beyond the ER: Expanding Telemedicine in Hospitals

At Cleveland Clinic, recovering stroke and epilepsy patients can use the TV in the room to watch a movie—or see their physicians for a follow-up visit via video conferencing. Last July, the facility opened a neurology step-down unit that had been newly-equipped with telemedicine capabilities. The director of Cleveland Clinic’s cerebrovascular center, Muhammad Shazam Hussain, MD, was interviewed recently about introducing telemedicine in hospitals, outside of emergency rooms. Read more

ICU patient and monitor

ICU Telemedicine Hub Reduces Mortality by 73 Percent

The Mayo Clinic—already a world-renowned medical facility—has boosted its level of patient care another notch by building a central telemedicine hub that monitors several Intensive Care Units at once. Research-heavy Mayo Clinic has been developing real-world solutions designed to be implemented in various healthcare settings nationwide, and this innovative ICU hub represents a major step forward by allowing physicians and patients to converse in real time via video conferencing. Read more

Dr in ICU

Tele-ICU May Improve Outcomes Both During and After ICU Stays

Thanks to telemedicine, ICU patients may soon have more timely access to specialists and more specialty care after discharge from the ICU environment. At Hawaii’s North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH), patients who need critical care are enjoying the benefits of the tele-ICU system that allows patients to receive state-of-the-art care without the treatment delays caused by inter-island transfers to the main facility on Oahu. Meanwhile, at Indiana University, researchers are currently conducting trials for elderly patients who experienced delirium during their ICU visits to determine whether training and exercises delivered via telemedicine can improve the patients’ quality of life. Read more

Monitoring a patient in the ICU

Tele-ICU Can Accurately Monitor Comatose Patients

Recently, we explored the financial benefits of implementing a tele-ICU program. If that weren’t reason enough to add the technology to your arsenal, Mayo Clinic researchers have now shown that telemedicine can monitor comatose patients just as well as a bedside doctor. Read more

ICU

Tele-ICU Programs Pay for Themselves

Some new research shows that when it comes to intensive care units (ICUs), investing in telemedicine pays significant dividends: Combining a tele-ICU program with centralized bed management can increase case volume by roughly 40 percent and raise contribution margins by over $52 million. The differences were attributed to shorter lengths of stay, a higher ratio of case revenue to direct costs, and higher case volume. Read more

sick girl laying in hospital bed

Mobile Video Conferencing Brings Virtual Visits to Intensive Care

The MassGeneral Hospital for Children Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has found two intriguing uses for mobile video conferencing: comforting anxious families and consulting physicians at home.

Sometimes, parents can’t be at their child’s bedside. While the hospital strives to make visiting family members comfortable with in-room beds and desks, they help reduce absent parents’ anxiety by loaning them tablet devices. With secure mobile video conferencing, parents can see, hear, and interact with their children, physicians, and nurses—in essence, “being there” without actually being there. Read more