CHI Franciscan Health System’s eight hospitals are scattered across Western Washington but they are all tethered to a virtual hub located in a former bank building in Tacoma. In this clinical operations center, teams of technicians, nurses, and caregivers use technology to provide an extra set of eyes across its regional health system, from miles away, for busy physicians and nurses on the ground.
Nurses who used to spend all day on their feet in an intensive care unit now spend 12-hour shifts watching a screen where they monitor the vital signs of dozens of the health system’s most fragile patients. From a computer, nurses can check blood oxygen levels and read the patients’ medical charts. A camera can take them inside a patient’s room with a click of the mouse. However, the virtual ICU is just one part of this hub. In another area, virtual companions sit at computer stations with six monitors watching over patients who need extra supervision like those at risk of falling. Cameras provide live video feeds of the patients’ rooms and allow the virtual companions to chat directly with the patients using speakers and wall-mounted computer screens. Nurses on the ground can be summoned to the patient’s room if they need help. From the clinical operations center, staff can troubleshoot anything at the spur of the moment with the push of a button and significantly enhance the quality of care.
Source: “Virtual Hospital Provides Second Set of Eyes on Harrison Patients” by Tad Sooter, Kitsap Sun News, July 16, 2017.