Baptist Memorial Health Care has added a telehealth component to its metro and regional facilities that is designed for intensive care unit patients.
Through new eICU monitoring technology, known as TeleGuardian, specially-trained ICU registered nurses in Baptist's TeleHealth Center based in Memphis will work directly with the hospital's intensive care and critical care teams, serving as real-time support and collaborating with teams on the floor.
A camera and monitor mounted on the wall in one of the hospital's intensive care units, nurses in Memphis can view a patient in real time, said Stacy Hammett, director of Baptist's eICU, who Hammett helped direct the launch of eICU in 12 of Baptist's 21 hospitals.
Patients benefit in several key ways, including:
- Higher overall survival rates
- 24/7 remote patient monitoring by experienced critical care nurses who can answer questions or discuss patient care
- Education and mentoring for newer ICU nurses
- Changes in patients' conditions are quickly identified in real time and addressed immediately to help avoid complications during recovery.
- Shorter lengths of stay in the unit for some patients
- Fewer days on a ventilator
- Lower rate of preventable complications, such as pneumonia and sepsis