Cutting the ribbon for the new InSight Tele-ICU were (l-r): Dr. Marshall; Dr. Siner; Waddell; O'Connor; Jennifer Ghidini, APRN, director, Medical Critical Care Services, YNHH; Johnson; Reilly; and Kurt Acker, RN, nurse application specialist, ITS.

A week before the Oct. 7 ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of Yale New Haven Health System's InSight Tele-ICU, InSight staff worked with bedside clinicians to save a life.

From the InSight Clinical Center at the York Street Campus, Jonathan Siner, MD, and Robin Waddell, APRN, were remotely monitoring patients on the Saint Raphael Campus Medical Intensive Care Unit. The intensivist physicians, physician assistants, APRNs and other experienced nurses who staff the center 7 pm - 7 am use computer workstations to monitor patients' vital signs, test results, conditions and other data.

Dr. Siner, MICU medical director, noticed a drop in a patient's blood pressure and he and Waddell activated the InSight camera in the patient's room. When they saw that the patient was unresponsive and not breathing well, they contacted and assisted the MICU team. Dr. Siner called the attending intensivist, and he and Waddell supported her during a procedure on the patient.

"It was the greatest intervention I've been involved in," said Waddell, who previously staffed a tele-intensive care unit in Missouri. "It was good teamwork, within the Tele-ICU and with the staff on the floor."

"This showed how, within minutes, we were able to bring resources from the Tele-ICU to the bedside to work with the MICU team," said Lenore Reilly, RN, MICU patient service manager. "Whatever our patients' needs are, they have someone readily available to help them."

Marna Borgstrom, YNHHS president and CEO (right), communicated with staff in a Greenwich Hospital patient room from the Tele-ICU Clinical Center.

After a successful pilot program last year, InSight launched in August with the SRC MICU, followed by the Greenwich Hospital MSICU and four Emergency Department beds at the SRC and York Street campuses. The SRC Surgical Intensive Care Unit will be supported by year's end. Throughout a patient's stay, InSight and unit clinicians collaborate to follow best practices and meet shared clinical goals, according to the attending physician's care plan, said Peter Marshall, MD, InSight medical director.

This collaboration and the technology supporting it greatly enhance safety and quality, Tom Balcezak, MD, YNHH chief medical officer, said at the ribbon-cutting, which Greenwich Hospital joined via videoconference.

"The Tele-ICU is part of the future of telemedicine," Dr. Balcezak said. "It is an excellent example of Yale New Haven Health System's commitment to providing the highest level of care to our patients, no matter where they are."

Meredith Johnson, InSight program manager, said throughout the pilot program and since the launch, Tele-ICU, ICU and Information Technology Services staff have worked together seamlessly, always focusing on the patient, family and staff experiences.

Chris O'Connor, executive vice president and chief operating officer, YNHHS, thanked the many people and departments who made InSight possible.

"With future expansion to additional units and hospitals, more patients will receive the exceptional care our health system is known for," he said. "This is an important part of our vision, to provide access to integrated, high value, patient centered care."