Friday Five – 5 Benefits of Patient Virtual Monitoring
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Although evidence exists to support Virtual Monitoring as a cost-effective, patient safety measure, it is underutilized in acute care settings. Also referred to as “telesitting,” inpatient video-monitoring for at-risk patients across a variety of conditions delivers numerous benefits that improve fall reduction, patient safety, patient care, cost-savings and incidents of violence. This week’s Friday Five highlights some of the benefits of patient virtual monitoring.
Fall Reduction
Telesitting, “the use of cameras with speakers and trained staff to directly observe patients from a remote location,” is shown to decrease patient fall rates when used in acute care settings. A study by Spano-Szekely demonstrated a 60% decrease in falls (from 3.21 falls/1000 patient days to 1.14 falls/1000 patient days) after virtual monitoring adoption.
Patient Safety
Telesitting, though relatively new to the patient safety tool kit, had a positive impact on patient safety at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The system allowed providers to maintain continuous observation on patients while keeping nurses protected from unnecessary COVID-19 exposure.
1,625 COVID patients observed across 97 hospitals in March and April 2020 found that, with virtual monitoring, patients in isolation received a greater number of verbal interactions per day and felt less isolated.
Patient Care
In a survey of 181 nurses from the Oregon Health and Sciences University, 86% agreed that virtual monitoring freed up more staff for patient needs and 67% reported that it helps prevent adverse events.
Cost Savings
A 595-bed academic health system implemented a nurse-driven mobile video monitoring program to address increasing sitter program cost. The study findings showed an improvement in nursing and staffing effectiveness measures in addition to an estimated annual savings of $771,919 in sitter cost.
Violence Reduction
At Providence Health & Service–Oregon Region, a team of certified nursing assistants uses the AvaSure TeleSitter® solution to keep some of its most vulnerable patients safe, 24 hours a day, without ever stepping foot inside their rooms. The team monitors patients at high-risk for falls, or those who might be
inclined to remove their lines, as well as patients who may be likely to cause harm to themselves or to clinicians. They watch out for signs of choking or other distress. To learn more you can read the studies mentioned above.
About AvaSure
AvaSure provides the leading hospital virtual care platform to systems with nursing and staffing shortages that are challenged to significantly reduce labor costs without sacrificing patient health outcomes. Recently recognized by KLAS Research as the leader in reducing the cost of patient care, AvaSure is the pioneer in providing best-in-class, video-based AvaSure TeleSitter® and TeleNurse™ solutions. As a trusted partner of more than 1000 hospitals, AvaSure combines remote patient monitors, virtual nurses and other providers on a single platform to enhance clinical care without placing any additional burdens on existing staff.
ICYMI – Our other Friday Fives and Blog posts from HCNR’s Nurse Lauren.
