Virtual patient sitters are a growing trend
Hospitals across the nation are finding more reasons to use virtual nurses and sitters to provide found-the-clock monitoring of patients prone to falls or at risk of self-harm, such as staffing shortages, cost efficiencies, and job satisfaction among in-facility nurses.
Recent articles in Becker’s Healthcare offer testimonials from hospitals using remote sitters or nurses through services similar to VirtuAlly, the solution available to SC hospitals through Solvent Networks.
Here are a few examples:
“We really are able to clearly create some efficiencies and redeploy caregivers back to the bedside,” said Lynn Simon, MD, president of healthcare innovation and chief medical officer of Community Health Systems in Franklin, Tenn.
“We’ve realized we were really not putting the nurses in a position where they could practice at the top of their license, at the top of their competency,” according to Syl Trepanier, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer of Washington-based Providence. “So now we’ve elevated their role, by extending the role of the technicians … and making sure that everyone feels they’re part of the team.”
At Lubbock, Texas-based Covenant Medical Center, which piloted the Providence program, first-year turnover rates fell by 73% for registered nurses and 55% overall.
At Corewell Health in Grand Rapids, Mich., virtual staff monitor 12 to 16 patients at a time, and over a 12-month period, the system documented 53,000 near misses on patient falls.
Ochsner Health, based in New Orleans, has seen a 90% cost reduction in patient monitoring across the system by using a virtual sitter provider service.
While the out-of-state systems use different service providers, VirtuAlly’s contract with Solvent Networks offers SCHA member hospitals pre-negotiated competitive rates for turnkey tele-sitting and virtual nursing solutions. To learn more or request a demo, contact Joseph Wechsler at jwechsler@virtually.io
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