Do you need more help in your healthcare facility, E-ICU Monitoring could be the answer!

Do you need more help in your healthcare facility, E-ICU Monitoring could be the answer!

Many medical care providers are in bad shape in 2023. Several problems overwhelm healthcare facilities worldwide, with Statista stating that 42% of care providers are struggling with staff deficiencies while a similar percentage are also contending with long wait times for their patients. E-ICU monitoring services deliver a hybrid care model that can solve these and many other challenges that ail the healthcare system. What’s more, many professionals herald it as the future and cornerstone of modern healthcare. Today, we unpack in great depth just what remote E-ICU services bring to the table, and how specifically they can uplift your healthcare practice or hospital. 

How do remote E-ICU services work? 

E-ICU or electronic ICU, also known as tele-ICU, entails remote monitoring and management of ICU patients via the aid of electronic technology such as: 

• Video surveillance
• Audio surveillance
• Heart monitors & RPM tools at large

A virtual or electronic ICU essentially connects both patients and physicians directly through electronic media. It helps doctors to subconsciously monitor the patient’s condition from afar, with the ability to bring patient deterioration to the intensivist team as and when it arises. 

Moreover, most E-ICUs provide additional access to third-party clinical teams who can take over monitoring tasks for the facility via cameras and other electronic methodologies.  

The upsides of E-ICU monitoring for your care facility

So what do remote E-ICU monitoring services have to offer your care facility? For care facilities that want to stay ahead of the curve and tap into the future of healthcare, E-ICU solutions are a natural next step of evolution.

Here’s a look at how E-ICU can help your care facility: 

E-ICUs can beat staffing shortages

Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we’re in the midst of a health crisis as far as care worker shortages are concerned. Reports estimate that this shortfall presently affects over 8 in 10 hospitals worldwide, while we’re bound to see the gap expand tremendously to 10,000,000 by 2023. 

This shortage warrants urgent action. Of course, you could choose to hire more staff for your facility if you’re facing staffing shortages. But your physician-to-revenue equation may mean expanding your payroll is not economically viable.

One way to avoid sinking your bottom line into the red and still expand your intensivist team is via remote E-ICU services. Here at Techindia for instance, we provide panel members who work with your care team to coordinate care virtually on the ground. This negates the need to hire more staff, and that means: 

• More profitability for your facility
• Lighter workload on your on-site staff
• Lower likelihood of physician burnout
• More funds for investment in care equipment

Instant connection to experienced specialists

Staff shortages are one of the biggest headaches many facilities face. Hot on its heels is staff inexperience which can compromise the quality of treatment. According to a report by CCN, about 75% of critical care RNs don’t have sufficient experience. They consequently have to learn on the job from whatever limited source of expertise at their disposal. 

If you’re a fairly young practice short on experience or just want to shore up the skillsets of your existing critical care team, E-ICU monitoring services can do that for you. They also become necessary when dealing with new-age threats such as COVID-19, which require a revision of the conventional intensivist workflow.

Either way, remote E-ICU affords experienced virtual care nurses or experts who can: 

• Offer direction or instruction to the bedside team
• Identify and communicate needs for various equipment
• Contribute to medication and treatment plans
• Monitor patients for any red flags and more

Generally, such services can help reinforce best practices for your care facility. They can nurture an inexperienced workforce while at the same time minimising the risk of medical errors. 

Fewer patient complications

Long ICU stays are not ideal because, the lengthier this duration, the higher the risk of hospital-acquired infections, among other complications. Remote E-ICU services can offer relief in this regard to your care facility by reducing lengths of stays, and consequently, the number of patient complications.

This conclusion is reinforced by one mHealth intelligence study that examined 17 E-ICU programs across the US for one year. It emerged that, with the use of electronic ICU services, facilities were able to lower stay durations by 29%.  

Aside from the clinical impact, trimming patient stays also has positive effects on other facets of your care as follows: 

• Financial effect: Improved patient throughput means more space to take in new patients while previously high-acuity patients move on to the next stage of care.
• Strategic impact: In the case of multiple facility branches, the right service can also help you balance your patient load to prevent underutilization while homogenising care expectations throughout your brand
• Operational effect: Such programs also allow your facility to delegate certain tasks. Doing so ensures each member of your intensivist team operates at the top of the licence.

Lower mortality rate 

One of the goals of your care facility is undoubtedly to save more lives, and remote E-ICU monitoring services are key in effecting that. 

With real-time monitoring, additional expertise from specialists, and early deterioration alerts, such services have the capability to: 

• Uplift quality of care
• Increase the patient’s longevity
• Lower your facility’s mortality rate

In the aforementioned mHealth intelligence study, researchers proved that remote E-ICU services have a tremendous impact on mortality. The programs were able to extend the lives of 390 patients, who wouldn’t have lived as long otherwise. In fact, the figures by the National Institutes of Health are even more promising, showing that facilities can lower mortality by up to 73% with tele-ICU services. 

Try Techindia’s superior remote E-ICU services today

Are you ready to take your intensivist care quality to the next level with Techindia? The benefits of remote E-ICU monitoring services extend far beyond our list. Other significant ones worth mentioning are increased patient awareness, better compliance with your facility’s core metrics for success/quality, and easier personalization to meet exact patient needs. If you’d like to lower your cost settings, transfer patients faster to lower acuity to avoid revenue churn, and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes, contact us today to get started.