Angel Eye Adds 35 More Cameras to Pennsylvania Hospital’s Neonatal Unit
| LITTLE ROCK – Angel Eye Camera Systems, a company established in 2013 with support from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) BioVentures, recently completed the installation of 35 additional camera systems in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This will make Lehigh Valley Hospital the first regional hospital in the area to have every bed in their NICU with live streaming cameras.
Angel Eye represents not only the latest technology but a total rethinking of how to provide patient- and family-centered care for parents and family members who are away from their babies in the NICU. Complete with audio, parents can see their baby anytime day or night from their mobile phone or computer.
Angel Eye’s technology is an example of the nationally leading role played by UAMS ANGELS (Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System), a program that uses the latest communications technology to provide long-distance care to rural Arkansas parents and their newborns.
In 2013, nine Angel Eye cameras provided a total of 301 hours of viewing for 72 babies. The cameras first came to the hospital’s NICU as a pilot project in 2012.
“The Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital had the forward-thinking vision to extend this new technology to all 44 of its NICU beds, so that it can better serve all the families and their newborns in the unit,” said Steve Bethel, Angel Eye Camera Systems CEO and president. “It’s a positive move for the families and Lehigh Valley Hospital as well as a vote of confidence in the product, service and experience our company delivers.”
As long as the parents have provided them with the proper ID and password, other people can see the baby on their computers or cellphones anytime they would like as long as the infant is in the NICU. An unlimited number of viewers simultaneously can access a camera.
“Angel Eye provides the families with peace of mind when they have to leave their babies in the hospital,” says Denise Keeler, director of clinical services at the Lehigh NICU. “It helps them to feel connected to their infants. They can each be part of the family by being on the screen at home or on a mobile device.”
Joseph Tracy, vice president of telehealth services at Lehigh Valley Hospital, said the expansion of the program was made possible by private donations as well as other internal funding sources.
Lehigh Valley Health Network includes four hospital facilities — two in Allentown, one in Bethlehem and one in Hazleton, Pa.; 11 health centers caring for communities in five counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging, home health services and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the only children’s hospital in the region, provides care in 28 specialties and general pediatrics.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###