| November 8, 2004
University of Pennsylvania Health
System
Launches Life-Saving eICU® Technology
“Open House” for Media, November 12th,
to preview Penn E-lert
(Philadelphia, PA) – The University of
Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) will be the
first health system in the tri-state area (Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and Delaware) to go live with eICU®
technology on November 15th. The Health System’s
Penn E-lert will permit remote “live”
coverage of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) by practicing,
critical-care physicians – intensivists –
via a comprehensive telemedicine system that includes
early-warning software, order entry, clinical decision
support, electronic documentation, and remote physiologic
monitoring. Penn E-lert will be on-line
first in the ICUs in the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania (HUP) and Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH).
UPHS is offering an Open House for media outlets to
preview Penn E-lert on November 12th
from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM at 3440 Market Street,
Suite 304. Please call Ed Federico for more details
and to register.
"This new initiative brings UPHS to the forefront
of cutting-edge technology focused on quality and patient
care,” says C. William Hanson, MD,
Medical Director of the Penn E-lert
program. “HUP and Pennsylvania Hospitals will
set the mark on how to bring ICU care into the future,
while at the same time, enhancing patient care.”
The Penn E-lert system is expected
to cover all adult ICU beds in the health system, including
those at Presbyterian Medical Center, within 24 months.
Penn E-lert features real-time data,
audio, and video monitoring of ICU patients by UPHS
intensivists and critical-care nurses, all from one
central command center – every day, seven days
a week, 365 days per year. The command center –
located at 3440 Market Street, Suite 304 – is
meant to supplement the on-site care provided in the
ICUs by critical-care doctors and nurses, especially
during off hours, such as nights and weekends. The eICU®
technology is a patented product of VISICU, Inc., located
in Baltimore, Maryland.
Penn E-lert will function like an air-traffic
control center, providing assistance and guidance to
the attending doctors, residents and nurses in the hospital
ICUs. The system will be networked via voice, video,
physiological monitors and other clinical data with
the physicians and nurses in the hospital ICUs. "Penn
is committed to enhancing care by utilizing the latest
proven technology to more effectively manage a patient's
stay in the ICU. Over time, we expect Penn E-lert
to help us significantly reduce mortality, complications,
length of stay in the ICU, and overall healthcare costs,”
adds Hanson.
For
a printer friendly version of this release,
click
here.
###
Editor’s Note: eICU®
is a registered trademark of VISICU, Inc.
PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise
dedicated to the related missions of medical education,
biomedical research, and high-quality patient care.
PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s
first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania
Health System (created in 1993 as the nation’s
first integrated academic health system).
Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #3 in the
nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked
#4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s
most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical
schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students,
the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its
superior education and training of the next generation
of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.
Penn Health System is comprised of: its flagship hospital,
the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently
rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll”
hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania
Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Presbyterian
Medical Center; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care
provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities;
and home health care and hospice.
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