Our state-of-the-art eHealth program uses the latest technology to monitor critical inpatients, no matter where they are in the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth).
The hub of the eHealth program, our eHealth Center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with highly trained healthcare professionals who serve remotely as a second set of eyes for the dedicated bedside physicians and nurses in our hospitals across the region.
About eICU
All Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at Westchester Medical Center and MidHudson Regional Hospital are equipped with ground-breaking eICU (Electronic Intensive Care Unit) technology. An additional layer of care, this comprehensive clinical program supports the expert care already being delivered by your bedside ICU care team. Using the latest monitoring technology, combining clinical intelligence with skilled healthcare professionals, our system is uniquely designed to further enhance patient outcomes.
In the eHealth Center, the eICU team consists of critical-care physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This team is a supplement, not a replacement, to your current bedside team of ICU doctors and nurses. This specially trained eICU system and team is continuously monitoring critical care patients’ vital signs in our eHealth Center located on this campus.
How does it work?
Sophisticated technology, such as audio and video equipment, including camera and microphone, enable communication with patients, their families and other healthcare providers. As directed either by your bedside team or patient-safety-driven alerts, the camera in your room can turn on and a member of our eICU team will appear on the monitor. Importantly, and for your privacy, the camera will otherwise always be in the “off” mode. However, while the camera is turned on, patients, their families and your healthcare team will be able to interact with eICU doctors and nurses. Even while the camera is turned off, our patients have the extra layer of monitoring provided in real time by our eICU experts.
Vital signs, medications, blood test results, X-rays and other information from bedside monitors are sent to the eHealth Center by secure, high-speed data lines. This information is displayed on computers exactly as it is seen in the hospital room for the bedside doctors and nurses to view. Patients can be examined through the use of special cameras and the eICU team can talk directly with bedside doctors and nurses.
The team also has powerful software that continuously analyzes the information and can alert the teams about possible problems. Other systems contain the latest medical information for diagnosing and treating many common ICU conditions.
This proactive, technology-based approach to taking care of our patients is a key in enhancing your recovery.
What is the patient/family experience like?
Seeing a specialist by telemedicine is much like talking directly to the bedside care team. The eICU specialists can make observations, have consultations and make recommendations in coordination with the bedside team. The cameras, microphones and digital monitoring systems allow the specialist to review critical indications and measurements, examine skin, and even look into the eyes. Patients and their eHealth specialist are able to speak as normally as they would in person. Consultations are completely private and secure – only those in the patient’s room or on the video screen are able to hear or see the patient.