On the top floor of St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO, doctors and nurses watch banks of video feeds, peering in on intensive care patients at rural hospitals across the Midwest. Two critical care doctors and nine nurses in the St. Louis area oversee more than 400 patients at St. John's Mercy and a dozen other hospitals in four states. In round-the-clock shifts, they scan patients' vital signs and review their medications, lab work, X-rays and medical records. They conduct real-time quality control audits to ensure best practices are being followed.
