In a report created by Abt Associates for CMS, it was found that Emory’s eICU program www.emoryhealthcare.org/centers-programs/critical-care-centers reduced the length of patient stays in the ICU which has resulted in fewer readmissions, lowered costs by millions of dollars, and helped solve the shortage of critical care physicians who work primarily in ICUs.
Emory University was one of ten institutions to receive a Health Care Innovation Award from CMS www.cms.gov in 2012. The $10.7 million CMS award was used to launch and evaluate Emory’s plans for a collaborative network supporting intensive care units remotely in North Georgia.
Emory’s eICU program was put in place to establish a critical care residency training program for affiliate providers, provide 24/7 monitoring for critical care patients, and provide access to intensivist physicians and other support staff on night and weekend shifts.
Emory trains Advanced Practice Providers (APP) such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the critical care setting to work alongside critical care nurses at the bedside to provide support to Emory intensivists and critical care nurses 24/7 from remote locations.
Philips powers the eICU program that includes installed cameras, video monitors, microphones, and speakers in ICU rooms at the five hospitals, as well as in the control rooms at three hospitals for 24/7 monitoring, observing, and communicating with on-site staff and patients.
During the evaluation period from 2014 to 2015, 8,019 patients were cared for by the Emory eICU. More than 60 percent of the patients were federal beneficiaries. The report reveals a reduction of $1,486 in Medicare spending per patient stay which saved $4.6 million during the 15 month evaluation time.
The greatest savings were found in the larger university hospitals that included Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital Midtown since the severity of illness found in patients at these two hospitals resulted in a higher cost of care.