The health system's virtual nursing program has morphed quite a bit in the med surg realm, says this nursing science leader.
While virtual nursing will likely have an impact in all areas of health systems, many organizations are beginning their programs on med surg units and have seen great successes in doing so. As virtual care technology continues to evolve, med surg units will also change and patient care workflows will become more efficient.
Monique Bouvier, corporate director of nursing science at Emory Healthcare and assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, recently gave HealthLeaders an update on the health system's virtual nursing progress over the past year.
Bouvier is part of the HealthLeaders Virtual Nursing Mastermind program, which brings together several health systems to discuss the ins and outs of their virtual nursing programs and what their goals are for now and the future.
What's changed?
Since last year, Bouvier told HealthLeaders that Emory's virtual nursing program has morphed quite a bit in the med surg realm.
"A year ago, we did a pilot to show the value," Bouvier said. "Now, we are hard-wiring bidirectional virtual nursing systems into our patient rooms, and hope to have 1,000 medical-surgical rooms hard-wired for virtual care by the end of the year."
Right now, Emory uses patient care metrics to measure outcomes, including length of stay, readmissions, number of ED visits, patient satisfaction, and quality metrics.
“Additionally, for our nurses we are capturing retention, contract utilization, nurses' perceived workload, work satisfaction, [and] time spent in the EHR," Bouvier said.
In terms of staffing, Bouvier explained that they are on a journey to discover the right model.
"We are really listening to our nurse and patient needs, desires, and critiques to create a staffing strategy that meets the needs of not only our patients, but our nursing staff as well," Bouvier said.
Currently, the health system is working with several vendors for virtual care technology, but the goal is to consolidate as much as possible.
"Our end goal is to have a virtual platform that is a one-stop shop across all sectors of care," Bouvier said.
Overcoming obstacles
As this is a huge financial investment for hospitals to take on, Emory Healthcare is intentionally measuring impact of such a significant investment. Bouvier explained that right now, literature is limited to rely upon for metrics, staffing, and financial benefits, which can make virtual nursing programs a hard sell.
"We are kind of building the ship as we sail because inpatient medical-surgical virtual care is truly a new nursing care delivery model," Bouvier said. "As nurses, we follow evidence-based practices, and because the inpatient virtual landscape is developing, I can understand the hesitancy of investing time and money."
However, Bouvier believes that this technology is not going to go away, and it's the responsibility of partners in the technology space to ensure that the technology is working for providers. Bouvier also pointed out how the virtual care boom is happening concurrently with the rise of AI.
"These huge shifts have revealed a level of unknowns with new technology," Bouvier said. "Hospital organizations need to acknowledge that shift and work with their medical staff to ensure informed, safe, [and] ethical roll outs."
The future is bright
As of right now, Bouvier does not expect much to change on the technological front as the health system is still working on deploying and implementing all of the new technologies for inpatient virtual care, with a current focus on integrating translation services. However, going forward, Bouvier said that Emory plans to expand the virtual care program to outpatient settings.
"We are starting a pilot program for a virtual transition of care platform for our patients from the inpatient to outpatient setting," Bouvier said. "We want our patients to experience uninterrupted care across their care journey."
So far, nurses have reported experiencing benefits from the virtual care program, and have expressed to Bouvier that they appreciate it.
"Hearing nurses who were initially hesitant to be part of the virtual nursing trial transform their thoughts from uncertainty to praise for the platform has been the best part," Bouvier said. "We are taking the time and listening to our nurses via an empathy-based PDSA cycle, [and] that is what has made this great."
The HealthLeaders Mastermind series is an exclusive series of calls and events with healthcare executives. This Virtual Nursing Mastermind series features ideas, solutions, and insights into excelling your virtual nursing program. Please join the community at our LinkedIn page.
To inquire about participating in an upcoming Mastermind series or attending a HealthLeaders Exchange event, email us at exchange@healthleadersmedia.com.
G Hatfield is the CNO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Emory Healthcare is now hard-wiring bidirectional virtual nursing systems into patient rooms, and the goal is to have 1,000 med surg rooms hard-wired for virtual care by the end of the year.
Emory uses patient care metrics to measure outcomes, including length of stay, readmissions, number of ED visits, patient satisfaction, and quality metrics.
The health system also plans to expand the virtual care program to outpatient settings.