The demand for intensivist care aimed at the critically ill in ICUs is ever-growing as life expectancy increases, creating a tension in supply and demand. (1) Critical care is resource intensive and demands meticulous process control. Complexity of ICU support has increased, due to surgical advances and older patients. Remote video visualization of patients, devices, and access to electronic medical records (EMR) helps the tele intensivist. Tele ICU platforms leverage algorithms to scrutinize patient data, combining physiological parameters with clinical risk factors to predict deterioration and provide decision support. Insights afforded by embedded risk-prediction algorithms and push-notification dashboards promotes efficient interventions. (2)
Neurocritical Care is evolving - Telestroke and teleneurologic intensive care units (teleneuro-ICUs) optimize the diagnosis and treatment of neurologic emergencies. Establishment of a telestroke or teleneuro-ICU program relies on investment in experienced stroke and neurocritical care personnel as well as advanced telecommunications technologies. Tele-management of neurologic emergencies can be standardized to improve outcomes. The recognition of the ever changing needs of the ICU and the increasing knowledge in field of neurologic diseases and emergencies necessitates that patient issues be managed comprehensively.
References:
1) Brewick, DM, Nolan TW, Whittington J. The triple aim: Care, Health, and cost. Health Aff (Milwod) 2008;27:759-769.
2) Udeh C, Udeh B, Rahman N, Canfield C, Campbell J, Hata JS. Telemedicine/virtual ICU: Where are we and where are we going? Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J 2018;14:126-33
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