Intensivists will be able to continuously monitor and care for patients in the ICU at a remote location via telemedicine coverage when active intensive care doctors are not on duty. At a kind of electronic command center, they will constantly monitor computer systems and digital cameras attached to the patients bed. They can perform remote examinations of the patient, check the patients chart and x-rays and even talk with the patient if needed. The intensivists will also have access to the patients' pathology reports, any lab data and even their nutrition reports, and have constant communication with ICU nurses and caregivers. The ICU nurse now has at her side all hours of the day an electronic intensive care specialist who works as a team to sort through constantly changing data and make critical decisions in a timely fashion.
Most patients see their doctor only during morning rounds.
IC-USA gives the patient continuous 24 hour care by an intensive care physician especially through the overnight hours when there are no intensivists in the unit. This ground breaking technology helps doctors avoid complications by catching problems early, reduces the cost of health care and can even save lives. IC-USA is a privately financed company that was founded in 1998 by Dr Michael Breslow and Dr Brian Rosenfeld. The two doctors formed the company after leaving their jobs as intensivists at Johns Hopkins Hospital to develop the business full time. Us Copyright 1999 Sentara Healthcare.