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The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital
The ICU is a unit in hospital where care is given for the sickest of all hospitalized patients
where it utilizes the highest staff to patient ratio within the hospital as well as numerous costly
and advanced devices, consumables and informatics systems. Several situations may arise that
will cause a patient to be transferred to an ICU. Thus, patients are admitted to the ICU for close
monitoring immediately after a major surgical operation or serious head injury. Others may
have problems with their lungs that require ventilator support with breathing etc.
The Intelligent Hospital YouTube video talked about healing environment, patient safety,
high technology healthcare informatics platform brought to provide quality care for the patient
in the intensive Care Unit section. As such, the virtual ICU, driven by providing clinical data
necessary for immediate intervention right by the patient’s bedside is an innovative technology
meant to accelerate overall critical care delivery using an innovative remote and onsite
equipment without compromising patient privacy. For example, the use of E-glass, intelligent
pharmacy, bedside sonogram machine, infusion pump, pneumatic tube system.
According to Journal of American Medical Association, the virtual ICU is said to reduce
the incidence of intensive care deaths by 20 percent and the length of intensive care stays by 32
percent[Gra13] while the Nursing Management states that the virtual ICU offers a solution to
yielding a better, safer care delivery system through technological infrastructure, clinical
expertise, and multi-disciplinary collaboration to redesign workflow processes and establish
standardized care[Zap07]. Although, the implementation of a virtual ICU is costly, the overall
improvement in documentation, better decision making at the bedside, and quality patient care
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far outweighs the cost in the long run. Hence, this paper will discuss the benefits of the of the
intelligent hospital as presented in the YouTube video.
Features:
E-Glass: In the video, Dr. Neil Halpern noted that in a patient environment, the key issue is
ensuring patient privacy. He mentioned the use of curtains, double pane glass wood blinds in
providing privacy[IHT14]. However, the downside of these items is that the curtain can get dirty
and needs changing for each patient or the double pane blinds may break over time. On the
other hand, the E-glass which is a suitable alternative to those mentioned earlier, provides
privacy through technology of switchable glass - a laminate that can instantly switch from a
clear state to opaque white. When turned on, e-glass allows unobstructed visibility into patient
rooms and when turned off, it will "frost". Thus, providing complete privacy for procedures,
exams and private consultations. One key benefit of e-glass is in providing hospitalized patients
visual contact with hospital staff. Thereby, causing a reduction in psychological anxiety that
patients experience when in isolation. In an article by Journal of Hospital Infection, it noted that
isolation has a negative impact on patient psychology and behavior and that admission scores
for hysteria, anxiety and total scores were increased for patients in isolation[Aba10]. The e-glass
however, has considerably improved patient experience and helped in reducing time spent in
constantly changing curtains.
Intelligent Pharmacy: This cutting edge technology which incorporates the infusion pump
platform helps ensure that the correct medication and dose gets to the right patient, at the right
time and via the right route. As stated by Dr. Halpern, patient safety which has been a major
issue in the ICU section is alleviated by the introduction of this technology. For example, he had
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patient safety is enhanced by the ability of the guard rail system to monitor the dosing
information of a medication such that when too high or too low, the infusion pump would
“block the incorrect dosage from being administered.” Also, the ability of the pump to import
medication prescription, eliminating nurse’s manual set up, and wirelessly retrieving
information from the hospital pharmacy aids in reducing human error that is inherent in
medication administration as well as saving time.
Bedside Sonogram: Although, not much has been identified as the advantage of the bedside
sonogram over the stethoscope because the two equipment serve different purposes. It is
however noteworthy to mention that the sonogram offers advantage in acute care units when,
patients needing diagnostic ultrasound exams have to be transported to the ultrasound
department for imaging. With the wireless connectivity feature, the need to transport patients
in acute care to imaging department is no longer required because care givers can remotely
connect the bedside sonogram to other departments.
References
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(IHTV), I. (Director). (2014). The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion [Motion Picture].
Abad, C., Fearday, A., & Safdar, N. (2010, July 10). Journal of Hospital Infection, 97-102.
Grafius, W. (2013, October 2). Remote Monitoring In ICU Improves Care, Reduces Costs. Retrieved July 31,
2016, from Health IT Outcomes: http://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/remote-monitoring-in-
icu-improves-care-reduces-costs-0001
Zapatochny Rufo, R. J. (2007, September). Techno advantages of the virtual ICU. ‐Nursing Management: ,
16-22.
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