Topic: Technology

Top 5 Ways IT and Clinical Leaders Can Collaborate on Virtual Care Programs

Posted on December 17, 2024 by - Featured, Uncategorized

illustration of AI in virtual monitoring

These were some takeaways from our most popular session at Symposium 2024! The live session highlighted Regina Foley, EVP and Chief Nurse Executive at Hackensack Meridian Health, and Dr. Nick Patel, CEO of Stealth Consulting, highlighting how clinical & IT teams can partner together.

Virtual care is rapidly changing the healthcare landscape, offering innovative solutions to age-old challenges. But successful implementation requires a strong partnership between IT and clinical leaders.

Two healthcare leaders who exemplify the gold standard of this partnership are Regina Foley, EVP and Chief Nurse Executive at Hackensack Meridian Health, and Dr. Nick Patel, CEO of Stealth Consulting.

Here are five of their recommended best practices for seamless collaboration:

1. Start with the Clinical Need, Not the Technology:
  • Define the problem: What are you trying to solve? Is it nurse burnout, patient satisfaction, or access to care?
  • Focus on solutions: How can technology improve workflows, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance patient care?
  • Avoid the “shiny object” syndrome: Don’t get distracted by the latest gadgets. Choose technology that truly addresses your needs.
2. Foster a Culture of Collaboration and Trust:
  • Leave egos at the door: Encourage open communication and mutual respect between IT and clinical teams.
  • Build a shared vision: Ensure both teams understand the goals and are working towards the same outcomes.
  • Break down silos: Promote cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing.
3. Conduct Thorough Due Diligence:
  • Assess existing resources: What technology and infrastructure do you already have?
  • Evaluate potential solutions: Carefully consider the capabilities, costs, and integration requirements of new technologies.
  • Involve clinicians in the process: Ensure their input is valued and incorporated into decision-making.
4. Prioritize Training and Education:
  • Provide comprehensive training: Ensure both IT and clinical staff are comfortable using and supporting new technologies.
  • Offer ongoing support: Address questions, concerns, and challenges that arise during implementation.
  • Foster a culture of continuous learning: Encourage both teams to stay abreast of the latest advancements in virtual care.
5. Embrace AI Cautiously and Strategically:
  • Focus on data quality: Ensure your data is accurate, complete, and unbiased before implementing AI solutions.
  • Start with specific use cases: Prioritize areas where AI can have the greatest impact, such as clinical documentation and decision support.
  • Involve clinicians in AI development: Ensure their expertise is incorporated into the design and implementation of AI algorithms.

Bonus Tip: Don’t be afraid to learn from others! Network with colleagues, attend conferences, and share best practices to accelerate your virtual care journey.

By following these guidelines, IT and clinical leaders can forge a powerful partnership that drives innovation, improves patient outcomes, and transforms the future of healthcare.

Interested in more content like this? Save the date for AvaSure Symposium 2025! Registration isn’t open yet, but stay tuned & take a look at our 2024 recap video from attendees.

American Telemedicine Association Launches Center Of Digital Excellence (Code) To Accelerate Digital Integration In Care Delivery

Posted on December 12, 2024 by - Uncategorized

As a founding sponsor of CODE, AvaSure is excited to collaborate with the American Telemedicine Association and leading health systems to accelerate virtual care innovation. We are bringing our expertise to advance solutions that ensure patient safety, engagement, and equitable access to care.

Read the full article on americantelemed.org

VA Hospital Fall Prevention: A Pathway to Zero Falls 

Posted on December 4, 2024 by - Featured, Uncategorized

VA Fall Prevention

Falls among VA hospitalized patients are a serious concern and can lead to injuries and increased healthcare costs, often requiring additional treatment and prolonged hospital stays. A recent 8-hospital analysis of over 10,000 patients falls cited by JAMA showed that a fall with any injury is associated with a cost increase of $36,776 and doubles the length of stay. 

 In VA hospitals, where patients often have more chronic conditions that contribute to a greater falls risk, prevention is critical. Staffing shortages, particularly among Patient Care Technicians and Certified Nursing Assistants, have exacerbated patient safety concerns, with patient falls rising 253% from 2020 to 2022.1 In response, the Veterans Health Administration introduced the SAFE STEPS for Veterans Act in 2024, creating an Office of Falls Prevention.  

Addressing Patient Safety Challenges 

Facing labor shortages and escalating costs, VA hospitals across the country have turned to virtual sitting, a replacement for traditional one-to-one sitting. Virtual sitting reduces the need for 1:1 sitting by 75% or more, freeing up clinician’s time and headspace for other valuable work.  

With AvaSure’s virtual care platform for virtual sitting, a Virtual Safety Attendant (VSA) can oversee up to 16 veterans at once, using an intelligent, AI-enabled platform to identify patients at risk of a fall and verbally redirect them back to safety. If necessary, the VSA can issue a stat alarm, a loud, in-room alarm that draws nearby caregivers to the room in an emergency with an average response time of 20 seconds2. Freeing up CNAs and nurses from one-to-one sitting allows them to move back to the bedside for more direct patient care activities. 

An important aspect of virtual sitting is assessing patients individually to determine whether virtual sitting will meet their needs. Conditions typically monitored by virtual sitters include general safety concerns, such as high fall risk, drug or alcohol withdrawal, confusion, agitation, and elopement risk, and failure to follow safety instructions, such as leaving the unit without notifying staff. 

Success Stories in Virtual Sitting Implementation for VA Fall Prevention 

AvaSure’s virtual care platform is implemented in 45 VA hospitals across the country. For more success stories, check out the whitepaper on VA Fall Prevention. 

Fayetteville VA Hospitals 

Fayetteville VA hospitals were recently recognized with the 2024 VA Excellence Award when their virtual care program soared to 80% utilization in just six months, highlighting their strong leadership, organization, and commitment to success. Their journey serves as an inspiring model for other VA facilities, proving that with the right strategies and dedication, significant progress can be achieved in a short time. 

VA North Texas 

Facing labor shortages and escalating costs, VA North Texas implemented a virtual sitting program. At the heart of the program is a centralized monitoring hub, allowing 4 virtual safety attendants to oversee a total of 48 patients to reduce falls.  

Since implementing the program, VA North Texas freed up bedside care teams for direct patient care and decreased 1:1 sitter usage, saving the program an average of 83 full-time equivalents per month – an annual savings of $3.4 million. The efficiency gains are substantial, with costs per virtual sitting hour reduced to $3.05 compared to $26 for one-to-one sitters. VA fall rates plummeted by nearly 20%, well below national averages. Learn more about VA North Texas Program 

For health systems, one-to-one sitters represent a costly drain on resources that do little to improve patient safety. With virtual sitting, health systems such as VA’s have prioritized fall prevention and created better patient outcomes while delivering staff cost savings that can be invested back into direct patient care. 

AvaSure’s Intelligent Virtual Care Platform is deployed in 45 VA hospitals across the country, helping make significant strides in VA fall prevention and patient safety. By leveraging technology and data-driven insights, these hospitals are creating a safer environment for veterans and their caregivers.  

Interested in reading more? Download the whitepaper to learn:  

  • How to reduce falls by nearly 20% 
  • Ways to improve staff efficiency & satisfaction 
  • The top 4 adverse events prevented in VAs 
  • More success stories from VA Hospitals 

References

1 Sentinel Event Data Summary | The Joint Commission. (n.d.). www.jointcommission.org. https://www.jointcommission.org/ resources/sentinel-event/sentinel-event-data-summary/
2 Analytics – AvaSure. (2024, April 8). AvaSure. https://avasure.com/analytics/

Virtual Care Insights: Where Hospitals Stand and How to Scale with Impact

Posted on November 18, 2024 by - Popular

Virtual Care Insights Promo Image

Virtual care remains a top priority for hospital leaders, yet realizing its full potential requires strategic adoption and maturity. While 74% of leaders see it as essential, only 11% report widespread adoption. In this webinar, we’ll share a prescriptive path to achieving impactful virtual care implementation.

Join us as we dive into recent survey results that reveal the industry’s progress in virtual care adoption. We’ll explore where hospitals currently stand, the challenges they face, and the steps needed to move forward. Understanding both our progress and the road ahead will be crucial for any organization aiming to scale virtual care programs effectively and drive meaningful transformation.

Watch on-demand to learn about: 

  1. Assessing Industry Progress: Gain a clear understanding of where the healthcare industry stands with virtual care adoption, based on the latest survey data. Learn about the common barriers that hospitals encounter and what successful organizations are doing to overcome them.
  2. Pathways to Transformation: Discover the critical steps required to advance along the virtual care maturity model. Understand how to leverage insights from the survey to guide your organization’s strategy for scaling virtual care and achieving sustainable change.

Presenters:

  • Claire Zangerle, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAONL, FAAN, CEO of American Organization for Nursing Leadership and CNE of American Hospital Association
  • Lisbeth Votruba, MSN, RN, CAVRN, FAONL, Chief Clinical Officer, AvaSure 

What’s New with AvaSure? Enhancements to our Intelligent Virtual Care Platform

Posted on November 12, 2024 by - Featured

What's New with AvaSure Webinar

Learn how your virtual care workflows are improving in the latest edition of our What’s New With AvaSure series!

Learn about the enhancements we’ve made to ensure you’re getting the most out of your platform.  Not a current customer? Learn more about our existing platform.

During this webinar, you’ll hear about a number of exciting upgrades, including:

  • More AI enhancements to support analytics and our intelligence dashboard
  • Expanded Virtual Nursing capabilities, including broader integrations, multitasking features, virtual backgrounds and more
  • Platform upgrades, including device optimization, responsive services capabilities and security upgrades

Revolutionizing Nurse Well-Being: How Video Monitoring Reduces Burnout Over In-Person Sitters

Posted on October 9, 2024 by - Featured

Webinar graphic, nurse well-being

Safety and efficiency are paramount in healthcare, but what about the well-being of the nurses on the frontlines? This eye-opening session dives into new research comparing video monitoring technology with traditional in-person sitters. Earn nursing contact hours and discover how video monitoring enhances safety and reduces emotional exhaustion and nurse burnout – particularly for those who may be less engaged. Hear directly from the researchers as they unpack the data and explore how healthcare facilities can prioritize nurse well-being while maintaining top-tier patient care. 

Speakers:

  • Don Kluemper, PhD, Professor of Management, Texas Tech University
  • Emily Anderson, MSN, RN, PCCP, Clinical Nurse Manager, Providence Alaska Medical Center

AvaSure, Oracle Collaborate With NVIDIA on AI-Powered Virtual Concierge for Hospitals and Health Systems

Posted on September 10, 2024 by - Uncategorized

BELMONT, Mich., Sept. 10, 2024 – AvaSure, a market leader in acute virtual care, is collaborating with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to develop a virtual concierge solution built with NVIDIA full-stack AI technology to improve patient care and streamline clinical workflows in hospitals and healthcare systems. The cutting-edge virtual concierge will leverage the power of AvaSure’s Intelligent Virtual Care Platform; Oracle’s AI offerings, including OCI Compute; and NVIDIA accelerated computing infrastructure, including NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs with NVIDIA NIM microservices, part of the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform. These combined capabilities can create a seamless, AI-powered bedside experience, enabling smart rooms across any department.

Revolutionizing the Hospital Room Experience
To address staffing shortages, rising costs, and increasingly complex patient needs, healthcare organizations are integrating AI-driven solutions to reduce workflow burdens on bedside staff. As hospitals build the smart rooms of the future, they are integrating advanced technologies that seamlessly combine virtual and in-person care through innovative in-room devices. This new care model brings new resources and touchpoints that require centralized coordination. The virtual concierge is designed to meet these challenges by triaging staff and patient requests in real-time, serving as a critical point of assistance for clinicians, patients, and families.

This innovative virtual concierge will function similarly to voice-activated assistants used at home. Using a simple ‘wake word,’ nurses will be able to quickly request additional support, language translation services, and more, enhancing care delivery and improving the work environment for clinical staff. For patients and their families, the virtual concierge aims to simplify communication, enabling them to request items or connect with a nurse or their case manager for health guidance. This personalized approach helps ensure that patient needs are met promptly, with the goal of delivering better care experiences.

Accelerating Innovation with Industry Leaders
“This collaboration marks an exciting milestone in our mission to revolutionize patient care with intelligent virtual solutions,” said Adam McMullin, CEO of AvaSure. “We are excited to explore how incorporating AvaSure’s expertise in virtual care with OCI’s AI infrastructure and NVIDIA’s advanced NIM microservices can help create a solution to redefine how care is delivered in hospitals and health systems, empowering care teams to provide more efficient and effective patient care.”

“We’re committed to helping AvaSure and other organizations improve patient care with AI and cloud infrastructure,” said Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “With OCI AI infrastructure, AvaSure will be able to speed up clinical workflows while leveraging OCI’s full-stack protection that is secure by design to accelerate innovation in care delivery.”

“AI-powered microservices can help hospitals and healthcare organizations enhance patient care experiences and improve operational efficiency,” said Brad Genereaux, global lead for healthcare alliances at NVIDIA. “Powered by NVIDIA NIM microservices and OCI’s AI infrastructure, AvaSure’s virtual concierge can help physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers deliver a more personalized approach to patient care.”

The new virtual concierge solution is expected to be available next year, offering hospitals and health systems a powerful tool to enhance patient care and optimize clinical workflows.

For more information, stop by the AvaSure booth (AIP310) at Oracle CloudWorld in the Data & AI Pavilion, sponsored by NVIDIA.

About AvaSure
AvaSure® is an intelligent virtual care platform that healthcare providers use to engage with patients, optimize staffing, and seamlessly blend remote and in-person care at scale. The platform deploys AI-powered virtual sitting and virtual nursing solutions, meets the highest enterprise IT standards, and drives measurable outcomes with support from care experts. AvaSure consistently delivers a 6x ROI and has been recognized by KLAS Research as the #1 solution for reducing the cost of care. With a team of 15% nurses, AvaSure is a trusted partner of 1,100+ hospitals with experience in over 5,000 deployments. To learn more, visit www.avasure.com.

Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company—ushering in the new era of cloud computing.

AvaSure Media Contact:
Marcia G. Rhodes / Amendola Communications for AvaSure mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

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2024 AvaSure Symposium to Celebrate 15 Years of Transforming Virtual Care Delivery

Posted on September 4, 2024 by - Featured, Uncategorized

Symposium 2024 promo image

Hospital leaders from across the U.S. will convene to discuss how AI-powered virtual care platforms improve patient outcomes, increase staff satisfaction, and produce a healthy ROI

BELMONT, Mich., Sept. 4, 2024 — AvaSure, a market leader in acute virtual care, announced today that registration is open for the 2024 AvaSure Symposium, a two-day in-person event for hospital leaders to discuss how AI-powered virtual care platforms are transforming care delivery.

To register for the Symposium, click here.

The event is titled “Bridging Now to Next in Virtual Care: Celebrating 15 Years of Virtual Care at the 2024 AvaSure Symposium” and will be held from October 2 – 4 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Keynote speakers:

  • David Pogue, a seven-time Emmy Award-winning CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, NOVA host, and former New York Times columnist, will discuss the future of technology in healthcare.
  • Nora McInerny, a bestselling author and host of podcasts “Terrible, Thanks for Asking” and “It’s Going to Be OK,” will share her insights on resilience and the emotional aspects of patient care.

“We are excited to share another stellar lineup of speakers, panels, and learning opportunities at our 2024 Symposium,” said Adam McMullin, CEO of AvaSure. “Join us for the event of the season as we share stories and lessons about virtual care’s ability to transform healthcare by improving care quality and empowering clinicians.”

AvaSure’s 8th annual Symposium will feature opportunities to hear perspectives from transformational leaders from more than 20 leading healthcare organizations including Advocate Health, Ascension Texas, Beacon Health System, Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Hackensack Meridian Health, Jefferson Health, MaineHealth, Providence Alaska, Riverside University Health System, Texas Tech University, University of Michigan, and SUNY, to name a few.

Reasons to attend:

  • Exclusive networking: Meet executives and healthcare leaders from other healthcare institutions who are planning to, or have implemented innovative virtual nursing programs, ambient AI for patient safety, and more.
  • Insightful sessions: A packed agenda of the most-requested topics about virtual care programs, including ROI and bridging the IT/Clinical divide, to address common challenges.
  • Actionable takeaways: Past attendees say they have been able to implement learnings the day they arrived home! You don’t want to miss the opportunity to stay current with all the advancements in this rapidly changing space.

Don’t miss your chance to be part of this transformative event. Let’s shape the future of healthcare together at the 2024 AvaSure Symposium!

About AvaSure
AvaSure is an intelligent virtual care platform that healthcare providers use to engage with patients, optimize staffing, and seamlessly blend remote and in-person care at scale. The platform deploys AI-powered virtual sitting and virtual nursing solutions, meets the highest enterprise IT standards, and drives measurable outcomes with support from care experts. AvaSure consistently delivers a 6x ROI and has been recognized by KLAS Research as the #1 solution for reducing the cost of care. With a team of 15% nurses, AvaSure is a trusted partner of 1,100+ hospitals with experience in over 5,000 deployments. To learn more, visit www.avasure.com.

AvaSure Media Contact: Marcia G. Rhodes for AvaSure / mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

What’s New with AvaSure? Enhancements to our Intelligent Virtual Care Platform

Posted on August 12, 2024 by - Featured

Acquisition of new AI technology, a new Episodic application for virtual nursing workflows, expanded integration capabilities with EHRs – it’s been a busy 2024 for AvaSure. Learn about the many platform enhancements we’ve made this year to ensure you’re getting the most out of your platform. 

During this webinar, you’ll hear about a number of exciting upgrades including: 

  • Smart Room AI: we’ve expanded our AI offering beyond just Falls & Elopement Detection to include ambient AI for patient mobility, rounding status & room status to help with patient flow
  • More two-way device modalities: our best selling ceiling device is now available in two-way utilizing the in-room TV to display the virtual caregiver in the room
  • Enhanced integration offerings: we’ve expanded our capabilities as an open platform to include more abilities to streamline workflows with Epic and a new Tele-ICU provider in CLEW Medical

AvaSure’s Acquisition of Ouva’s Smart Room Solutions 

Posted on July 29, 2024 by - Featured

webinar graphic, AvaSure's Acquisition of Ouva's Smart Room Solution

Join us as we announce AvaSure’s latest advancements in virtual care, following our recent acquisition of Ouva’s smart room solutions. Discover our vision for how ambient monitoring capabilities enhance patient flow, mobility monitoring, and operational insights, paving the way for a new era in AI-enhanced patient care and efficiency.  

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore how our recent acquisition will benefit our customers and shape the future of virtual care. For more details see the full press release here.  

Speakers: 

  • Jacob Hansen, Chief Product Officer, AvaSure 
  • Toby Eadelman, Chief Technology Officer, AvaSure