Video: Data From 185,000 ICU Admissions Show Significant Reductions in ...(actices/icu_physician_staffing) document...)

"24/7 intensivist-led care has become a necessity, not a luxury, and this program is the only identified way to address the growing critical care crisis resulting from aging baby boomers and the shortage of critical care doctors and nurses," said Dr. Brian Rosenfeld, VISICU chief medical officer (http://www.visicu.com/company/clinicalbios.html). "The numbers are compelling -- when all hospitals nationwide begin to effectively integrate remote intensivist support with technology in their critical care models, more than 100,000 additional lives will be saved each year. Patient conditions in the ICU can change in a matter of minutes, and we owe it to patients -- and their families -- to deliver the highest quality care around-the-clock 7 days a week."

Approximately 200 hospitals and 40 health systems nationwide currently serve more than 300,000 ICU patients each year through eICU Centers located across 28 states. The eICU Centers are operated by organizations ranging from academic medical centers to integrated community health systems. Using advanced eICU software and hardware, one intensivist physician and two critical care nurses can support up to 120 ICU beds at a time.

Sutter Health

Sutter Health (http://www.sutterhealth.org/about/patientsafety/ps_eicu.html), a 27-hospital system based in Sacramento, Calif., opened its first eICU Center in 2003 and a second in 2005. The two centers monitor more than 400 ICU beds at 24 hospitals across a wide geographic area in Northern California.

"Sutter Health's eICU Centers have assisted our ICU partners in redu
'/>"/>