Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt., is piloting a teleICU initiative, with plans for a full rollout in August, according to a Bennington Banner report.
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center partnered with Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, N.H., and Avera Health in Sioux Falls, S.D., for the program. Intensive care unit caregivers at SVMC can use telemedicine technology, which includes a monitor and a camera setup in each ICU room, to confer with specialists from the partner institutions.
The technology allows specialists to remotely check vital signs as well as other pertinent patient data. Patients can refuse the service if they wish.
SVMC initially began using telemedicine technology in its neurology department in April 2017. In May 2017, the hospital expanded the use of the technology to the emergency department.
The hospital also hopes that a full rollout of the teleICU program will help recruit more physicians, according to the report.