Technology Connects Parents and Hospitalized Infants in the Neonatal ICU at Princeton Medical Center

At Penn Medicine, creating positive patient experiences is of fundamental importance to our caregivers. Regarding the context of providing neonatal ICU care, we recognize that creating the opportunity to maintain meaningful connection between parents and their critically ill infant establishes significant comfort to the family.

Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center installed cameras on individual beds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to provide 24/7 virtual access, enabling parents to keep ongoing connection to their baby during care. The implementation at Princeton completes a service offering that is now enterprise-wide throughout the health system, joining the other NICUs (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at our hospital facilities.

This state-of-the-art, HIPAA compliant, NICU camera system brings live-streaming video of the patient to family members anywhere, anytime, on any device. Livestreaming camera access may reduce stress and anxiety for parents with a child in intensive care, support bonding with their child when family members cannot be at the hospital and improve staff’s workflow efficiency.

To help enable the service, the IT team established secure access to an online webcam for parents and authorized representatives to view live stream video of their infant, while being treated in the NICU. A camera captures the face and torso of the assigned patient. An eSignature consent form enables the service, helping to benefit families with on-the-go access to their child with flexible viewing, the ability to replay video messages, and to be recognized as an integral member of the care team.