Abstract
The demand towards telemedicine in ICU （tele-ICU） has been growing these days, due to the increase in aging population, requiring more complicated perioperative management and the shortage of intensivists. With audio and video technological innovation, can we share the patients’ conditions via physiologic monitoring systems and offer various treatments at a nearly the same level as bedside ICU teams do. Tele-ICU can improve mortality and quality of life, and is expected to replace on-site ICU management in the near future. Tele-ICU in Japan has been left behind by US and Europe due to the differences in the cultural background with higher demand of in-person medical care, and the lower number of ICU beds leading to low cost performance in Japan limiting the induction of tele-ICU. However, Japanese government has supported and accelerated tele-ICU system under the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection （COVID-19）. An increasing number of hospitals have introduced tele-ICU in order to prevent the medical staff from getting infected with COVID-19. In the US, the COVID-19 surge had put a strain on the hospitals across the country and the national healthcare system had collapsed. Under that circumstance, tele-ICU has contributed in providing standardized treatment and improving its compliance. Tele-ICU will continue to develop even more as the technology advances.
