Key requirements of a video-call system in a critical care department as discovered during the rapid development of a solution to address COVID-19 visitor restrictions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated stringent visitor restrictions in critical care departments worldwide, creating challenges in keeping family members connected to patients and clinical staff. Previous studies have examined how hospitals addressed this challenge by repurposing existing tele-ICU systems or by using personal smartphones as a workaround and have analyzed clinical and family feedback. This case report addresses the experience of rapidly implementing a video-call system in the critical care department of a tertiary referral hospital that had no prior video-call system in place, detailing the key requirements in that setting. The 24 requirements were identified via interviews and surveys to both clinical and technical professionals. The top requirements identified were sound and video quality, usability for clinical staff, call control by staff, and patient privacy. From tailoring a video-call solution for this setting, we learned that video-endpoint selection is a key design decision. The initial proposal was to use wireless tablets, but the selection of a large wired video-endpoint allowed us to better address the requirements in the critical care setting. This was based on several characteristics of the large wired video-endpoint, including: high-fidelity video and sound, with directional noise-cancelling; large touch-screen setup for minimal-click navigation; wired as well as wireless connectivity.

Experiences of healthcare professionals, patients and families with video calls to stimulate patient‐ and family‐centred care during hospitalization: A scoping review

“…In 19 studies, video calls were used for virtual visits between patients and families (Dainty et al, 2023;Dhahri et al, 2021;Dhala et al, 2020;Dürst et al, 2022;Ehrler et al, 2021;Kebapcı & Türkmen, 2022;Moolla et al, 2020;Moraes & Chiaradia Mendes-Castillo, 2023;Nicholas et al, 2011;Padua et al, 2021;Parsapour et al, 2011;Ranu et al, 2021;Rose et al, 2021;Rose, Cook, et al, 2022;Sanfilippo et al, 2022;Thomas et al, 2021;Wong & Merchant, 2021;Yang et al, 2014;Yuan et al, 2023), and between patients, families and healthcare professionals in 24 studies (Bansal et al, 2022;Bavare et al, 2021;Bettini, 2020;Carlucci et al, 2020;Cherniwchan, 2022;Chua, 2022;Conroy et al, 2021;de Havenon et al, 2015;Dol et al, 2017;Elma et al, 2022;Epstein et al, 2017;Galazzi et al, 2021;Giuseppe et al, 2022;Kennedy et al, 2021;Nelson et al, 2022;Otte et al, 2022;Rose et al, 2021;Rose, Graham, et al, 2022;Sasangohar et al, 2021;Shunker, 2022;Webb et al, 2020;…”

“…For example, studies suggested that assigning local champions on the hospital wards was a crucial step in implementation (Moolla et al, 2020;Thomas et al, 2021). Training of healthcare professionals was also considered important to help them understand, use and explain video call services (Cherniwchan, 2022;Conroy et al, 2021;Galazzi et al, 2021). Furthermore, adequate and easy-to-use devices and instruction guides were mentioned as technical facilitators for implementing video call services in hospital wards (Bavare et al, 2021;Ranu et al, 2021;Thomas et al, 2021).…”

“…Chua, 2022;Conroy et al, 2021;Dol et al, 2017;Elma et al, 2022;Epstein et al, 2017;Kennedy et al, 2021;Nelson et al, 2022;Riccò et al, 2022;Rose et al, 2021;Rose, Graham, et al, 2022;Shunker, 2022;Xyrichis et al, 2022;Zante et al, 2022). Video calls were also used on PICUs and NICUs for parents seeing their infant(Epstein et al, 2017;Giuseppe et al, 2022;Ranu et al, 2021;Yang et al, 2014), and for communication and updates between parents and healthcare professionals about the child(Bavare et al, 2021;Bettini, 2020;Dol et al, 2017;Moraes & Chiaradia Mendes- Castillo, 2023;Nicholas et al, 2011;Yager et al, 2017).…”

“…Bavare et al, 2021;Cherniwchan, 2022;Conroy et al, 2021;Dhahri et al, 2021;Ehrler et al, 2021;Elma et al, 2022;Epstein et al, 2017;Galazzi et al, 2021;Kennedy et al, 2021;Nelson et al, 2022;Otte et al, 2022;Ranu et al, 2021;Rose et al, 2021;Shunker, 2022;Webb et al, 2020;Xyrichis et al, 2022;Yager et al, 2017) (Table2). During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals felt that video calls were useful and effective when in-person hospital visits were not allowed(Bavare et al, 2021;Cherniwchan, 2022).…”

Telepresence Robot Intervention to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Older Adults Living at Home (Project DOMIROB): Protocol for a Clinical Nonrandomized Study

“…Since the beginning of the COVID-19 health crisis, different stakeholders have shown an increasing interest in innovative remote communication solutions and TRs [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. However, thus far, there is limited available evidence concerning the implementation and usefulness of TRs in a home-dwelling OA population.…”