Critical Care eICU

We use telemedicine technology to monitor every aspect of the ICU patient’s condition – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our program does not replace your direct bedside care or care from your family and extended care team, but we provide additional support to ensure the best possible care and alleviate some of the stress experienced during an intensive care stay.  

You receive continual care and monitoring from intensivists and critical care nurses with the immediate support of registered nurses in the ICU. 

How Does the eICU Program Work?

Advanced technology and private, high-speed data lines allow a critical care nurse and a trained intensivist to monitor your care 24/7. Our medical professionals monitor patients from Critical Connections Center, located in The Christ Hospital Medical Office Building.  

Your family physician or surgeon selects the level of care they wish for our team to provide and we touch base frequently with your physician about your plan of medical care.    

How Does Critical Connections Deliver Medical Care?

We receive vital signs, medications, blood test results, X-rays, and other information from ICU bedside monitors. We view this information exactly as you see it in the hospital room. You can be examined using special cameras, and our team can talk directly with hospital nurses and physicians. Our systems continuously analyze the information coming in and alert us to possible problems.  We also have other systems that contain the latest medical information for diagnosing and treating many ICU conditions.  

*ICU patients are constantly monitored by the ICU nursing staff and our team. If you or your family would like to speak to our staff, simply push the E-Lert button located in your room. We will be happy to speak with you at any time.

Privacy & Protection

Physicians and nurses only view patients when necessary to see how they are doing. Just as your physician needs to see patients in person, our team also needs to “make rounds” to check on you. Cameras are located above the door of each patient’s room. When the camera is turned off, it faces inward toward the wall. When turned on, the camera faces you and a green light comes on.  

Protected Health Information

• Several measures are taken to ensure all personal health information is protected.     
• Access to information is limited to those with granted medical record access and hospital authorization. 
• Information is not accessible to anyone other than those providing medical care. 
• No temporary or permanent recording is made from any camera or microphone. 
• Sending patient information to/from the Critical Connections Center occurs only over private phone lines. Information is NOT transmitted over the Internet. 
• A scrambling technique is applied to all information (encryption) to make it unreadable as it travels across the phone lines. When the information reaches the Critical Connections Center, the technique is reversed so that physicians and nurses can read it. Data is sent from the Critical Connections Center to the hospital in the same way. 
• These numbers are private and periodically changed to ensure security. 
• All personnel enter the Critical Connections Center through secured access. 
• Critical Connections physicians use a secured personal identification number (PIN) as an authorized electronic signature instead of a written signature when ordering treatments.