ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Digital cameras, microphones and special software have made a "virtual intensive care unit" possible for Inova Health System's U.S. hospitals.
The system's flagship hospital, Inova Fairfax, in Alexandria, Va., will be the headquarters for seven intensive-care doctors and nurses that will staff the system, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The seven will monitor ICU patients using cameras and microphones installed in each in room to monitor heart rates, blood pressure, respiratory rates and other vital signs of critically ill patients.
The plan is to catch problems early, when rapid medical intervention can mean the difference between life and death, according to Brian Rosenfeld, who developed for the system and is now chief medical officer at VISICU, the Baltimore company he co-founded to make and market the systems.
About 500,000 U.S. ICU patients dies each year in the United States, but studies have shown that the number of deaths in ICU units that used the remote care fell by as much as 50 percent.
