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St. Mary's Hospital and Advanced ICU Care Demonstrate Tele-ICU Benefits for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus
[November 13, 2012]

St. Mary's Hospital and Advanced ICU Care Demonstrate Tele-ICU Benefits for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus


CENTRALIA, Ill. --(Business Wire)--

Faster interventions by board certified intensivists, better patient safety, improved outcomes, and a higher level of care available in the local community are benefits from the Advanced ICU Care tele-ICU program at St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia, Ill., as presented in recent meetings with U.S. Representative John M. Shimkus.

As the population ages and the demand for specialty physicians increases, more hospitals are looking to telemedicine for clinical and operational support, to complement the care already provided by their hospital physicians and clinical staff. Since January, 2012, St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia has worked with Advanced ICU Care, the nation's largest independent provider of tele-ICU services, to deliver monitoring by highly trained intensivist physicians and a critical care team 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through a sophisticated telemedicine system.

"With Advanced ICU Care's tele-ICU program, we are able to deliver a standard of care in our community for which patients previously had to travel to larger cities, like St. Louis," said Bruce Merrell, president of St. Mary's Hospital. "With the tele-ICU program, intensivist physicians can intervene immediately to stabilize a patient and prevent complications. Patient safety has improved and mortality rates have decreased."

Congressman Shimkus, the U.S. representative for the 19th District of Illinois, visited St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia as well as Advanced ICU Care's headquarters in St. Louis to learn about tele-ICU programs and to witness, first-hand, how they work to improve patient outcomes and streamline clinical and operational efficiencies.

"The ele-ICU program at St. Mary's is highly impressive," he commented. "As a member of the House Subcommittees for Health and for Communications and Technology, I am always looking for programs that increase quality patient care, nationally as well as in my own district. After seeing the program in action, I am very impressed with the results and with the higher level of care that is now available in the community."



Advanced ICU Care's team of intensivists and critical care nurses work around-the-clock complementing the care provided by St. Mary's bedside physicians and clinical staff. A two-way video access in each patient's room enables face-to-face consultations between the bedside and Advanced ICU Care teams, which can be initiated by either party. The program continuously monitors patient vital signs, medications, labs and clinical status. With automated alerts and proactive data management tools, problems are identified before they become urgent, prompting immediate intervention when necessary.

"With a severe nationwide shortage of intensivist physicians and an aging population with increasing medical demands, very few hospitals are able to meet the recommended standards for patient care in the ICU," said Mary Jo Gorman, M.D., M.B.A., chief executive officer of Advanced ICU Care. "Hospitals can solve this problem by leveraging intensivist expertise with sophisticated telemedicine systems and combining this 24/7 oversight with a strong collaborative initiative to improve compliance to evidence-based standards of care. Working with St. Mary's, that's exactly what we are doing."


About the St. Mary's Hospital in Centralia

St. Mary's Hospital is a 115 bed, not-for-profit organization co-sponsored by Felician Services, Inc. and SSM Health Care. Fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the hospital is part of a unique health care organization consisting of two regional hospitals, St. Mary's Hospital located in Centralia and Good Samaritan Regional Health Center in Mt. Vernon, that serves nearly 250,000 people in an 11-county region. St. Mary's Good Samaritan is the only organization in Illinois to be twice-awarded the prestigious Illinois Performance Excellence award.

About Advanced ICU Care

Advanced ICU Care offers ICU programs to improve the clinical and financial performance of its hospital partners using a comprehensive approach with a proven track record of success. As the nation's largest independent tele-ICU provider, Advanced ICU Care has successfully implemented and managed more programs than any other organization. Our tele-ICU programs combine experienced intensivist-led care teams, sophisticated technology and collaborative programs with hospital staff to achieve a rigorous focus on evidence-based best practices that improve patient care and safety. Our team brings insights gained from decades of nationally recognized ICU leadership and expertise in both bedside ICU and tele-ICU environments. For more information, visit www.icumedicine.com.


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