Telemedicine in ICUs May Trim Critical Care Costs

HealthLeaders Media
December 13, 2010

Tele-ICU technology could save 350 additional lives and more than $122 million annually if broadly and effectively implemented across Massachusetts, according to a study from the New England Healthcare Institute and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

"Critical Care, Critical Choices: The Case for Tele-ICUs in Intensive Care" analyzed data collected from a demonstration project at UMass Memorial Medical Center and two community hospitals in Massachusetts. NEHI and MTC studied tele-ICU technology because of its potential to address the supply-and-demand problem plaguing critical care. It comes down to the "collision of two strong trends," according to the report...

The study was limited to Massachusetts, but the findings have national implications, NEHI President Wendy Everett said in an interview.

The problem of an aging population is a national one, she explains. Currently, there are 40 million people over 65 in the country; by 2030 that will jump to 72 million, "and we'll have tripled the number of folks over 85, thus dramatically increasing the demand for ICU care." 

Link to Full Article: http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/TEC-260039/Telemedicine-in-ICUs-M…