Banner Boswell implements new telemedicine technology to improve care of critically ill patients
SUN CITY, Ariz. (March 28, 2011) – An advanced, additional layer of care for hospitalized patients in Intensive Care now is available at Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City. The hospital joins 13 other Banner Health facilities in providing eICU® technology, completing the network of Banner hospitals in the Valley that provide this innovative approach to care.
eICU® technology is utilized by Banner Health’s iCare Intensive Care departments, also referred to as the Tele-ICU. iCare consists of a team of offsite critical care nurses and physicians (intensivists) who remotely monitor ICU patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As backup to existing bedside caregivers, these specially trained staff members work from a Clinical Operations Room (COR) located on the Banner Desert Medical Center campus in Mesa.
“We’re integrating this technology into all 70 Intensive Care Unit beds as part of Banner Health’s iCare intensive care program,” explained Terry Loftus, MD, chief medical officer at Banner Boswell. “The iCare specialists closely collaborate with onsite professionals in providing immediate supervision and care management. It’s a highly coordinated level of support that doesn’t replace care but rather enhances it by adding practitioners who have immediate access to the patient’s vital signs, medical records, test results, X-rays and other information.”
Each room within Banner Boswell’s four intensive care units are equipped with a high resolution, full-motion, two-way video camera with audio hookup. From the COR, specialists can assist the bedside caregivers to pick up even the smallest changes in a patient’s condition. Because intensive care patients are so medically fragile, this early warning system can help divert life-threatening complications. When the iCare specialists detect a problem or concern, they can talk live to the caregivers at the bedside and assess the patient via voice and video. This timely response has been shown to result in fewer patient complications, shorter hospital stays and has saved more than 640 lives within the Banner Health network.
Banner Boswell Medical Center, located at 10401 W. Thunderbird Blvd. in Sun City, is a 501-bed campus specializing in heart care, cancer care, stroke care, orthopedics, acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing and emergency care. Supporting Banner Boswell’s mission of excellent patient care is the Sun Health Foundation, which encourages charitable giving to support the hospital. Banner Boswell is part of nonprofit Banner Health. For more information about Banner Boswell, visit www.BannerHealth.com/Boswell.
