Increasing quality through telemedicine in the intensive care unit

This article explores the hypothesis that a telemedicine intensive care unit (Tele-ICU) platform is uniquely suited to facilitate quality performance improvement (PI). This article addresses some substantial hurdles to overcome that may limit the effectiveness of a Tele-ICU platform to achieve PI objectives. Lastly, this article describes the author's experience with a PI project to improve ventilator management conducted via a Tele-ICU hub interacting with 11 geographically dispersed ICUs. Using this example to illustrate the concepts, the author hopes to shed some light on the successes and lessons learned so as to generate best-practice guidelines for Tele-ICU-directed PI initiatives.