Journal of mHealth recently interviewed Advanced ICU Care’s Chief Medical Officer S. Ram Srinivasan. In the article “Tele-ICU Programs – The Benefits to Critical Care Teams“, Srinivasan discussed tele-ICU and its impact on critical care medicine. He shared thoughts on the transition from bedside clinician to tele-ICU intensivist, the role tele-intensivists play in the ICU and how tele-ICU benefits patients and physicians.
This insightful article also explores the misperceptions associated with telemedicine. Dr. Srinivasan explains, “Frequently, hospital physicians and nurses who are unfamiliar with tele-ICU care significantly underestimate the full range of care that we can undertake as a remote intensivist. For example, they might presume that we can’t assess sick patients without being physically present, can’t engage empathetically with family members, and certainly can’t run a code. In reality, these are among the most significant ways that we impact patient care.”
As both a bedside physician and a tele-intensivist Dr. Srinivasan has seen firsthand both the toll physician burnout can take on a colleague as well as the support that a tele-ICU program can provide. Srinivasan shared, “To help alleviate burnout, tele-ICU creates an extra layer of clinical support and allows bedside care teams to reach out for help – without penalty – at any time of day, which provides reassurance and a feeling of support. A second physician can be called upon to help care for critical patients when the patient and provider need it most and to partner on diagnosis and treatment.”
Read more about the varied impact of tele-ICU in Dr. Srinivasan’s Q&A with Journal of mHealth here.
