Sixteen California-based physicians have announced the formation of a new company, Performance ICU, which will perform tele-ICU medicine to hospitals and health systems throughout the nation. The doctors say they are bringing extensive tele-ICU experience to the table, observing from a remote location while continuously monitoring patient vital signs, physiologic trends, treatment results, and, as needed, communicating directly to the bedside with two-way audio/visual communication.

Dr. Afzal, CEO of Performance ICU, stated, "We believe the timing is right for introducing our new company. There is a growing shortage of critical care physicians at the same time as the U.S. population is aging.  Hospitals are aggressively looking for solutions that improve patient care while reducing costs.  Tele-ICU medicine has been proven to do just that."

Although the physician group is initially targeting the western part of the U.S. for its services, it has plans to be a national company with multiple remote monitoring hubs within a few years.

"We are not restricted by geographic distance or the hospital's current technology," managing partner Richard DeFelice, M.D. said in a statement  "Our technology platform is vendor neutral and we can provide hospitals and health systems with an affordable solution to staffing their ICUs with intensivists during the hours for which they do not have critical care physicians available."