The American journal of managed care
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Tele-intensive care unit (tele-ICU) use has become increasingly common as an extension of bedside care for critically ill patients. The objective of this work was to illustrate the degree of tele-ICU involvement in critical care processes and evaluate the impact of tele-ICU decision-making authority. ⋯ This study's findings suggest that higher levels of tele-ICU intervention do not negatively affect patient outcomes. Our results are a step toward understanding tele-ICU impact on patient outcomes by accounting for extent of decision-making authority, and they suggest that the level of remote intervention may reflect patient severity. Further research using more granular data is needed to better understand assignment of intervention category and how variable levels of authority affect clinical decision-making in tele-ICU settings.