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With the shortage of intensivist physicians in the U.S., some hospitals and hospital systems are considering using advanced technological means to supplant intensivist-trained staffing of intensive care units (ICUs). Earlier studies of telemedicine for ICU care involved only single hospitals; now, in a before-and-after observational study, conducted from 2003 to 2006, investigators evaluated a telemedicine intervention in six ICUs (2 closed and 4 open units; 1 medical, 1 surgical, and 4 mixed medical-surgical units) at five hospitals (teaching and nonteaching) within a single Texas healthcare system.
The tele-ICU intervention included a remote office with audiovisual monitoring that was staffed by two intensivists (19 hours daily from noon t…