24/7 Remote Monitoring Can Shorten Hospital Stays
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
The Mayo Clinic announced a new monitoring system and promises that it will help reduce length of stay for critically ill patients
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
Critically ill patients at the Mayo Clinic will be receiving care as usual, but now they will have the watchful eye of remote monitoring as well. An operations center of physicians and nurses will be monitoring patients’ health data and vital signs through a computer system as part of the Mayo Clinic’s Enhanced Critical Care Program.
According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, “Patient information, including vital signs, test results, and imaging exams, is sent to an operations center via in-room computers, high quality video cameras and audio monitors. There, a team of physicians and nurses continuously reviews the information and alerts local staff if a problem is detected. Two-way televisions and video cameras allow operations center staff to communicate with local staff, patients and their families.”
Asegid Kebede, M.D., Pulmonology and Critical Care in Mayo Clinic's Eau Claire, WI location said, “We do a great job taking care of patients. With this program, operations center nurses and physicians continuously review patient's vital signs and other patient related data. The minute they notice a potential problem, they can alert the local care team. It's like having an extra set of eyes on every patient."
Sean Caples, D.O., a critical care specialist in Mayo's Rochester, MN main facility and program medical director agrees, “This is a more proactive way to take care of patients. The way we're delivering care is changing, but our end goal remains the same: providing the best care possible to patients. We're taking advantage of new technology to help us do that."
Remote monitoring systems are only in place in about 10 percent of ICU beds in the US. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, when using a remote monitoring system, hospital stays in the ICU were reduced by 32 percent and ICU deaths were reduced by 20 percent.