Health Informatics

You are the chief of staff of a small hospital with a 5 bed ICU. Currently the staffing of the ICU is provided by a 2-man Internal Medicine group. You have concerns for the future as they may decide to stop coverage. Fortunately, you are part of a large hospital network. You investigate the possibility of ICU coverage at night remotely from the larger hub hospital. After you research some of the resources for telemedicine listed in your textbook, lecture, and video links in this week's folder, answer the question: What advice would you give to the CEO, CIO and hospital board regarding the advantages of a VICU (i.e., Virtual-ICU)? What would be the obstacles?