Temporary nurse staffing, medical transcription, medical coding, even locum tenens–All of these kinds of companies come to mind when you think of outsourcing in the medical world. But what if I told you there was a new form of outsourcing that involves direct patient care?

According to a post in the Advance Perspective blog, Offshore Outsourcing: Is Your Critical Care Next?, there are already three Swedish Medical Center hospitals located in Seattle using this “telemedicine” to monitor patients in ICU.

The blog goes on to explain this eICU in more detail:

“According to the company, an eICU center is staffed with an intensivist-led care team that can monitor and care for hundreds of patients at the same time. Likened to an air traffic controller, the monitoring physicians use software alerts to track patient vital trends and intervene earlier-before complications occur. The care team has audio, visual and data connections to the patients and their rooms. If they see a problem developing, they can speak directly with the patient’s hands-on caregiver.”

Q: Do you think this is the next big thing in outsourcing?