Digital technological advancements have spared no arenas. The ones that will benefit the most from this kind of progress are definitely going to be the people and the health sector.
Digital technological advancements have spared no arenas. The ones that will benefit the most from this kind of progress are definitely going to be the people and the health sector. Whatever has been impossible so far has become doable now. People belonging to small towns, big towns, tier II and tier III cities can now have access to advanced medical solutions and treatment delivered by a critical care unit that is located remotely and is closely monitoring the conditions of the patients through multi-modal data. There are in fact a slew of benefits that tele-ICU can bring along.
Tele-ICU is in fact the confluence of the best of minds that work in health and IT drive so as to improve and enhance the medical outcomes of the patients regardless of where they are. When more hospitals have this model engaged in their medical set up they are paving the way for better financial as well as clinical benefits and that too across a wider healthcare system. Success therefore would depend greatly on how one would use the system and get the maximum benefits out of it.
Here are the advantages:
One is under the medical surveillance of experienced doctors and critical care nurses.
Reduces the number of admissions into the intensive care units significantly.
In short this is a system where one ICU team shares its best outcomes with other ICU team.
There is an integrated and collaborative workflow where patient is the major focus.
Mortality rates can definitely be lowered when tele-ICU facility is available.
This would also mean a career advancement option for the intensivists and the critical care nurses. Only the highly experienced ones can be given the major responsibility of handling tele-ICU.
The ICU team need not suffer from sleep deprivation and complain about lack of support being extended by other professionals in the hospital.
As mentioned, there is decreased burnout for the clinicians in the hospital and reduced mortality rate too.
When the data is shared online there is ultimately a reduced cost incurred by way of tests too.
We have heard and read about numerous cases where patients have lost their lives as they were not provided the adequate treatment in the intensive care unit at the time it was needed most. With this facility, they need not be brought to corporate hospitals or bigger setups. This is the need of the hour for any developing country where there are massive needs but scarce resources.