Cleveland Clinic's eHospital program has expanded and now monitors 248 patient beds in ICUs and other units across the organization's network.
The eHospital program launched in 2014 as a pilot in one intensive care unit. The program is centered around a component known as the "bunker," an operations center on Cleveland Clinic's main campus. The operations center is staffed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily by a team consisting of two critical care nurses and a physician. Their primary responsibility is to monitor patients across various ICU units within the Cleveland Clinic network.
This remote monitoring allows the bunker team to promptly intervene in case of concerning developments. The bunker team also has access to a patient's EHR, images and vital signs' waveforms.
The program has enabled more patients to receive care at community hospitals, reducing the need for transfers to the main campus, according to Cleveland Clinic. It has also helped decrease ICU lengths of stay and minimize the volume of calls received at night.
Since 2014, the eHospital program has grown to encompass 13 regional hospitals and now monitors nearly 300,000 patients.