Using iMDsoft®'s Clinical Information System, MetaVision®, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis (OLVG) hospital in Amsterdam now provides 24/7 tele-intensivist monitoring for intensive care patients at MC Zuiderzee in Lelystad. OLVG intends to offer tele-intensivist services to additional regional hospitals in the near future.
While full-time, dedicated intensivist care in the ICU has been proven to improve outcomes and save lives, small hospitals are often not able to provide these vital services. MetaVision enables OLVG, a level 3 hospital, to provide intensivist care around the clock to MC Zuiderzee, a level 1 hospital, expanding their intensivist coverage to include evenings and weekends. An intensivist at OLVG uses a series of monitors with audiovisual feeds to instruct the MC Zuiderzee team and survey treatment while the ICU staff at MC Zuiderzee performs the medical procedures.
Transferring a critically ill patient is a high-risk, time-consuming procedure. An OLVG intensivist is now involved at every stage of treatment for MC Zuiderzee's ICU patients, often eliminating the need for potentially dangerous patient transfers.
OLVG's solution is built on MetaVision, which is installed in both hospitals, enabling clinicians from OLVG to log in and view patient data from MC Zuiderzee. MetaVision automatically creates a complete electronic patient record, and offers powerful tools for decision support, clinical assessment, treatment, and care planning.
Tele-monitoring has already been used successfully for years, with proven positive outcomes regarding efficiency and cost-saving. The implementation of MetaVision at the tele-intensivist program at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (Pennsylvania, USA) resulted in improved mortality rates and length of stay in the ICU, decreased patient complications, decreased time to treat and increased workflow efficiency, and improved staff and family satisfaction.(1)
According to Dr. Peter van der Voort of OLVG, "Tele-monitoring is so effective that the intensivist of the OLVG seems to be physically present at the ICU of MC Zuiderzee. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and high-resolution feeds, we command all the essential data and means to assess and treat patients in real time, including when a critical situation threatens to arise."
"It is very exciting be a part of the first tele-monitoring implementation in Europe," said Phyllis Gotlib, CEO, iMDsoft. "We are looking forward to introducing our tele-intensivist solutions elsewhere in the continent."
About iMDsoft
iMDsoft is a leading provider of Clinical Information Systems (CIS) for perioperative, critical, and acute care. The company's flagship family of solutions, the MetaVision Suite, was first implemented in 1999. It has since become a market leader, with implementations in a wide range of ICUs, ORs, and general wards. iMDsoft products demonstrate a 100% customer retention rate and 100% implementation success rate. Major medical centers across the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia use iMDsoft's technology to improve care quality, promote patient safety, enhance financial performance, support research and compliance, and achieve sustainable market leadership. To learn more, visit www.imd-soft.com.
1. Rabert AS and Mary SC. The Future Is Now: Implementation of a Tele-Intensivist Program. Journal of Nursing Administration 36(1): 49-54.