Tele-ICUs expand at hospitals nationwide, including in Illinois — Transcript

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1. 0:00If you go to the ICU, you expect a
2. 0:02doctor to be there, but that wasn't the
3. 0:04case for a dental student whose life
4. 0:06ended while in the ICU under the care of
5. 0:09a remote tele-doctor. It's technology
6. 0:12that's already being used in intensive
7. 0:14care units across the country, including
8. 0:16right here in the Chicago area, but some
9. 0:18patients may not know that they're being
10. 0:20cared for by a tele-provider until after
11. 0:23they're admitted into the ICU. Now,
12. 0:26consumer investigator PJ Randhawa
13. 0:27tonight shares the questions you need to
14. 0:29ask before your next visit to the
15. 0:31hospital.
16. 0:33Summer 2024, dental student Connor
17. 0:35Hilton was in bad shape, suffering from
18. 0:38pancreatitis and alcohol withdrawal
19. 0:40symptoms. The whole plan
20. 0:43was just to admit him to the floor to
21. 0:45rehydrate him. Connor was treated in the
22. 0:47ER at this Bridgeport, Connecticut
23. 0:49hospital, later transferred to the
24. 0:51intensive care unit. Once in the ICU,
25. 0:54Connor's dad, William, says there was no
26. 0:56doctor to be found. Instead, about 10 ft
27. 1:00away from Connor's feet,
28. 1:02there was a screen, and there was
29. 1:04someone on the screen
30. 1:06basically running the show, telling
31. 1:07everyone what to do. Less than 18 hours
32. 1:10after arriving at the hospital, he began
33. 1:12seizing and became unresponsive.
34. 1:14Connor's final moments overseen by a
35. 1:17remote doctor watching on a monitor. At
36. 1:206:12, you know, he called, he pronounced
37. 1:23my son like that. Even though Connor was
38. 1:25in the ICU, among the sickest of
39. 1:28patients, a new lawsuit claims Connor
40. 1:30never saw a doctor in the ICU until he
41. 1:33went into cardiac arrest and died an
42. 1:36hour later. I would have never
43. 1:38allowed him to go to an unmanned ICU. An
44. 1:41investigation conducted by the
45. 1:43Connecticut Department of Health found
46. 1:44the hospital failed to ensure a
47. 1:46physician was assigned to care for
48. 1:48Connor. And when a doctor was eventually
49. 1:50called, the report states he did not
50. 1:53know how to get to the ICU. Hilton
51. 1:55family attorney, Joel Faxon.
52. 1:57>> The only way you can receive intensive
53. 1:59care is if there's a doctor there.
54. 2:01So, that's why I've called this a fake
55. 2:04ICU. The hospital previously told NBC
56. 2:06News, Yale-New Haven Health is aware of
57. 2:09this lawsuit and is committed to
58. 2:11providing the safest and highest quality
59. 2:13of care possible. However, we are unable
60. 2:15to comment on pending litigation. But,
61. 2:18ICUs around the country, including in
62. 2:20Illinois, are using telehealth to fill
63. 2:22crucial gaps. A trend experts say is
64. 2:25growing. A pioneer of tele-critical
65. 2:27care, Dr. Michael Reese, says tele-ICUs
66. 2:30can give rural patients fast access to
67. 2:33specialists, including intensivists,
68. 2:35doctors trained to treat the most
69. 2:37critically ill. And he estimates that up
70. 2:39to 20% of ICUs already use remote
71. 2:42providers. It it also increases their
72. 2:45ability to to staff nighttime because,
73. 2:49you know, rather than have to come in
74. 2:50and work 12 hours overnight in a
75. 2:52tele-ICU, that's a a burden, too. NBC 5
76. 2:56Responds found that Advocate and
77. 2:57Northwestern hospitals also use remote
78. 3:00physicians in their ICUs. However,
79. 3:02representatives and experts from both
80. 3:04systems say their ICUs are still staffed
81. 3:07with in-person doctors and that remote
82. 3:09physicians are used mainly for second
83. 3:12opinions in their rural locations. All
84. 3:15things William alleges never happened
85. 3:16for his son during his treatment at
86. 3:19Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut. It's
87. 3:21called intensive care for a reason.
88. 3:23Like, you you you can't reach out
89. 3:24through the screen. You somehow
90. 3:27Sometimes you need to touch patients.
91. 3:29You need to like be able to like see
92. 3:30what's going on. You can't do everything
93. 3:33remote.
94. 3:34Now, if you or loved one are going to
95. 3:36receive care in an ICU, you should ask
96. 3:38if your doctor will be treating you via
97. 3:40telehealth. Also, find out who will be
98. 3:43physically in the unit, especially
99. 3:45during those overnight hours when
100. 3:47staffing can thin out. Now, studies
101. 3:50about the use of tele-ICUs are mixed
102. 3:52with some reporting the tech can improve
103. 3:54outcomes, but there are no industry-wide
104. 3:57regulations governing this. So, the
105. 3:59implementation, reliability, and quality
106. 4:02of these programs can vary across
107. 4:04hospitals. Allison, back to you. Thank
108. 4:07you for that eye-opening information,
109. 4:09PJ.