[Avoiding Long-term Impairment in Critical Care Using Telemedicine: The ERIC Example]. / Qualitätssteigerung in der Intensivmedizin durch Telemedizin: Beispiel ERIC.

There is a high demand for critical care, which is forecasted to further grow in the future. Increasing patient morbidity and complexity concurring with a shortage of trained intensivists imposes challenges on critical care clinicians. Weathering these challenges, telemedical programs can help utilize and allocate resources more efficiently as well as foster adherence to best practice, thereby directly impacting quality of care. Studies have predominantly shown reductions in mortality and length of stay. Successful telemedical programs employ experienced intensivists, have well-functioning equipment and high acceptance among on-site clinicians. The multicenter, pragmatic, stepped wedge cluster-randomized controlled quality improvement trial Enhanced Recovery after Intensive Care (ERIC) pilots a new form of critical care provision in Germany. With a target study sample size of n = 1431 patients, the study aims to utilize telemedicine to increase adherence to a set of evidence- and consensus-based quality indicators for acute critical care. In an intersectoral case-care management, patients are followed three and six months after discharge from the intensive care unit to be assessed for long-term impairments and post-intensive care syndrome.

Effectiveness of an intensive care telehealth programme to improve process quality (ERIC): a multicentre stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Supporting the provision of intensive care medicine through telehealth potentially improves process quality. This may improve patient recovery and long-term outcomes. We investigated the effectiveness of a multifaceted telemedical programme on the adherence to German quality indicators (QIs) in a regional network of intensive care units (ICUs) in Germany. METHODS: We conducted an investigator-initiated, large-scale, open-label, stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial enrolling adult ICU patients with an expected ICU stay of ≥ 24 h. Twelve ICU clusters in Berlin and Brandenburg were randomly assigned to three sequence groups to transition from control (standard care) to the intervention condition (telemedicine). The quality improvement intervention consisted of daily telemedical rounds guided by eight German acute ICU care QIs and expert consultations. Co-primary effectiveness outcomes were patient-specific daily adherence (fulfilled yes/no) to QIs, assessed by a central end point adjudication committee. Analyses used mixed-effects logistic modelling adjusted for time. This study is completed and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03671447). RESULTS: Between September 4, 2018, and March 31, 2020, 1463 patients (414 treated on control, 1049 on intervention condition) were enrolled at ten clusters, resulting in 14,783 evaluated days. Two randomised clusters recruited no patients (one withdrew informed consent; one dropped out). The intervention, as implemented, significantly increased QI performance for "sedation, analgesia and delirium" (adjusted odds ratio (99.375% confidence interval [CI]) 5.328, 3.395-8.358), "ventilation" (OR 2.248, 1.198-4.217), "weaning from ventilation" (OR 9.049, 2.707-30.247), "infection management" (OR 4.397, 1.482-13.037), "enteral nutrition" (OR 1.579, 1.032-2.416), "patient and family communication" (OR 6.787, 3.976-11.589), and "early mobilisation" (OR 3.161, 2.160-4.624). No evidence for a difference in adherence to "daily multi-professional and interdisciplinary clinical visits" between both conditions was found (OR 1.606, 0.780-3.309). Temporal trends related and unrelated to the intervention were detected. 149 patients died during their index ICU stay (45 treated on control, 104 on intervention condition). CONCLUSION: A telemedical quality improvement program increased adherence to seven evidence-based German performance indicators in acute ICU care. These results need further confirmation in a broader setting of regional, non-academic community hospitals and other healthcare systems.