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Implementation of Tele-Intensive Care Unit Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review and Updated Experience from Shandong Province.
- Source :
-
Telemedicine & e-Health . May2023, Vol. 29 Issue 5, p646-656. 11p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
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Abstract
- Background: While the use of telemedicine had been expanding before the initial outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic has dramatically accelerated its implementation and expanded its usage in many hospitals. Tele-intensive care unit (ICU) is a specialized type of telemedicine that adapts available technologies to the unique needs of critically ill patients. We published an editorial in 2020 describing our initial experiences of Tele-ICU application in Shandong Province. Here, we update our insights gained over the past 2 years, and we provide a systematic review of the literature to compare our perspectives with those from other institutions. Methods: We performed a systematic literature review of publications describing the use of telemedicine in an ICU setting during COVID-19. The PubMed database was searched for studies published after January 1, 2020, which offered detailed descriptions of tele-ICU usage. Extracted data included details regarding tele-ICU technologies, descriptions of the institution, usage cases, assessments of tele-ICU effectiveness, and site-reported opinions (e.g., advantages, disadvantages). Results: We screened 162 studies resulting from the PubMed literature search, along with one expert recommendation. Of the 112 full-text articles retrieved, 11 were selected for inclusion in this qualitative summary. All were retrospective descriptions of tele-ICU experiences at a single site. Some pairs of included articles reported results from the same institution, with seven unique sites being described. Three sites employed centralized models of tele-ICU, while four allowed staff to participate from distant locations. Five sites collected user-reported feedback regarding tele-ICU. While the advantages and disadvantages described rarely overlapped directly between sites, many reported positive opinions of tele-ICU use overall. Conclusions: The potential applications of tele-ICU technologies vary widely, making them highly adaptable to the needs of individual institutions. Tele-ICU has proven invaluable to some hospitals during COVID-19 due to its effectiveness at aiding patient care while mitigating risk to health care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *COVID-19 pandemic
*MEDICAL personnel
*MEDICAL telematics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15305627
- Volume :
- 29
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Telemedicine & e-Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 163633572
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2022.0302