Tele-ICU
The influx of patients into the ICU during the early part of 2020 because of COVID-19 placed not only great strain on the number of ICU beds, but also the number of healthcare physicians to support them. Due to the nature of the illness, the number of patients that were monitored through tele-ICU technology increased, although the complex nature of implementing a new tele-ICU solution has meant the increase has not been as pronounced as that of telehealth in primary care settings. However, its use has enabled physicians to visit and monitor ICU patients virtually, decreasing the frequency and need for them to physically enter an isolation room. As the provision of healthcare is reviewed following the pandemic, it is likely that tele-ICU models will increase in popularity, to protect both the patient and the hospital staff providing direct patient care. Philips provides one of the largest national programs across the U.S. with its eICU program. Most recently, GE Healthcare has worked with Decisio Health to incorporate their DECISIOInsight into GE Healthcare’s Mural virtual care solution, to prioritize and optimize ventilator case management. Other vendors active within the tele-ICU space include Ambient Clinical Analytics, Capsule Health, CLEW Med and iMDsoft.
Figure 1 Signify Research projects the global tele-ICU market to reach just under $1 billion by 2024.
Interoperable Solutions
More and more solutions are targeted toward improving the quality of patient care and reducing the cost of care provision. With this, the requirement for devices and software to be interoperable is becoming more apparent. Vendors are looking to work collaboratively to find solutions to common problems within the hospital. HIMMS 2020 showcased several collaborations between core vendors within the high acuity market. Of note, two separate groups demonstrated their capabilities to work together to manage and distribute alarms within a critical care environment, resulting in a quieter experience to aid patient recovery. These included:
• Trauma Recovery in the Quiet ICU — Ascom, B Braun, Epic, Getinge, GuardRFID, Philips
• The Quiet Hospital — Draeger, Epic, ICU Medical, Smiths Medical, Spok
Signify Research will be assessing the developments in the high-acuity and perinatal IT market in its upcoming report High-Acuity and Perinatal IT – 2021. It will provide a deep-dive analysis of the innovative solutions entering the clinical information systems market, including analytics and artificial intelligence. For more information, or to arrange a discussion on the above topics, please contact Kelly Patrick.
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