Remote Patient Monitoring Through Telehealth
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Implementation of expanded telehealth services will allow clinicians to remotely monitor patients in any location
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Mercy, the nation’s sixth largest Catholic health system, has collaborated with Royal Philips, a leader in cardiac care, acute care, and home healthcare, to expand telehealth services to Mercy’s medical and surgical hospital units. The implementation will allow clinicians to remotely monitor patients in any location, improving care and outcomes.
A rapidly growing care delivery model, telehealth supported by Philips has been in place at Mercy since 2006. Mercy SafeWatch is the largest electronic intensive care unit in the country, providing 24-hour monitoring of critically ill patients and managed with Philips eICU platform. And several Mercy emergency departments utilize the Philips Telestroke program. These telehealth implementations have resulted in improved metrics in length of stay, readmissions, and patient safety.
With patient acuity levels rising, medical and surgical care in hospitals continues to consume healthcare resources, prompting Mercy’s decision to extend telehealth to these areas. “We have never been more convinced of the power of telehealth to improve patient access and outcomes and reduce costs,” said Lynn Britton, CEO and president of Mercy. “Adding acute care telehealth services is a natural extension of our successful eICU and telestroke programs and will allow us to support our mission to provide quality care to patients in need, regardless of location.”
The acute care telehealth program is expected to be in place by April 2014. Audio and video bi-directional access will complement Mercy’s home care technology with plans for the Mercy virtual care center to be staffed by hundreds of healthcare providers. By 2017, Mercy hopes to provide its eAcute program to 1500 acute care beds within the Mercy system as well as to other partner hospitals via telehealth technology. “With the right leadership, people and processes in place, Mercy has become a model for how to roll out a coordinated telehealth strategy that truly changes the way patients receive care,” said Brian Rosenfeld, M.D., VP and CMO of Philips Healthcare Hospital to Home. “Our acute care program builds on the success we’ve had in the ICU, Emergency Department, and the home, and we will continue to partner with leading health systems like Mercy to expand telehealth programs across the country.”
With a long history tracing back to 1827 in Dublin, Ireland, the Sisters of Mercy Health System was formed in 1986, transitioning in 2011 to one name – Mercy. With 32 acute care, specialty care, and critical access hospitals serving more than 3 million people in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, the nonprofit system also has outreach ministries in Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. The Mercy Clinic is a team of 1700 primary and specialty care physicians and 600 advanced practitioners delivering care out of 300 locations. Named one of Hospital & Health Network’s “Most Wired” organizations ten times, Mercy was an early adopter of electronic health records and was the nation’s first Epic user to implement EHR-automated care paths. The health system also ranks among the top 10 healthcare supply chains.
SOURCE: PR Newswire
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