HHS, DOD and vendors partner for critical care via telehealth

Avel eCARE, a telehealth network and virtual hospital, helped develop the federally funded initiative known as the National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Network  and is now expanding its work with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to provide critical care expertise to hospitals and municipalities struggling with COVID-19 surges in the South. EMS workers administered the treatment, then Avel eCARE clinicians provided remote monitoring to ensure the patients received 60 minutes of observation, enabling EMS workers to respond to others in need and distribute care faster on the ground. As part of the government-funded program, Avel eCARE also provided critical care consulting to a small community hospital that was inundated with COVID-19 patients. Avel eCARE was able to provide remote support to help staff through by providing critical care consulting to clinicians on-site. It was developed in direct response to the pandemic, and its purpose was to support the rapid development, deployment and testing of a mobile solution for tele-critical care services to respond to emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, medical trauma, natural disasters – or disaster events including war. NETCCN is now an evolving network of clinical care teams that provide expert medical advice, particularly related to managing critical illness from severe COVID-19 infection to any individual who needs it using mobile device applications.