MedSitter: The Healthcare Staffing Secret

While the number of COVID patients continues to rise, the demand for routine, urgent, and outpatient care has not slowed. This has worsened the nursing shortage and made it difficult for hospitals to care for their patients effectively. MedSitter’s virtual observation solution can alleviate some of this pressure by assigning one highly skilled medical professional to multiple at-risk patients at one time, making it a “staffing secret weapon.”

The Healthcare Staff Landscape

The healthcare industry has undoubtedly been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the highest hospitalization rates in over a century, it has been difficult for hospitals to retain emergency and primary care staff (Source: CNN). What’s more, while COVID cases continue to rise, the rate of regular, urgent, and outpatient care needed has not slowed, exacerbating the staffing shortage. All of this comes at a time when hospitals are under tighter budgetary constraints, limiting the number of new nurses that can be onboarded (Source: Interactive Digital Solutions). Despite seemingly overwhelming challenges, medical staff has been able to persevere. This is largely due to innovative healthcare technology that can help one provider to do more with less. One such piece of digital tech that has been taking the medical staffing world by storm is virtual patient observation. 

What is Virtual Patient Observation (VPO) 

In a traditional space, patients under observation are closely monitored to ensure they are not at risk of further injury and/ or that they have ongoing care readily available for persistent health threats. This usually requires one staff member to be hired at an hourly rate for each patient- a service that is too financially taxing for hospitals. These economic constraints, coupled with extreme short-staffing and medical staff vaccine requirements have caused many of these life-saving observational services to be cut back, as they have been deemed “non-critical” by hospitals across the country when compared to the larger public health risks of the pandemic (Source: Medical Expo). 

Virtual observation solves this issue by assigning one highly skilled medical professional to multiple at-risk patients at once from a remote location. It is an economical, centralized approach wherein a staff member is able to not only more efficiently ensure that patients are unharmed, but that they can quickly receive the care they need in the event that something goes wrong. Additionally, the video monitoring staff can communicate with multiple patients who are exhibiting risky behaviors until a staff member from the unit can get into their rooms (Source: Lehigh Valley Health Network). 

The MedSitter Advantage 

 MedSitter has been called “ a staffing secret weapon” for a reason. MedSitter ensures that every patient in need of observation is connected with a qualified healthcare provider. We help to bring medical expertise and compassionate care to the digital realm. We remain on the cutting edge of virtual patient observation, offering unique hardware and software solutions for patient observation. Some of these solutions include:

Hardware: 

• We provide full HD 1080P Cameras with night vision for patients requiring overnight observation. 
• We provide each client with medical-grade monitors and omnidirectional microphones and speakers.
• We provide clear two-way video and audio integration to ensure continued communication is easily maintained.

Software: 

• Our staff pre-configures each client’s wireless settings to keep gaps in communication virtually non-existent. 
• Each patient-sitter can monitor up to 10 patients while maintaining thorough records and mitigating harmful activity.
• MedSitter software provides three levels of alarms: alert sitter (motion detection), alert clinical staff (via phone or SMS), and in-room audio alarm for immediate clinical attention (siren).
• Our software provides motion detection that proactively alerts our sitters of irregular movement.

Above all else, MedSitter is committed to high-quality end-to-end service. For patients, this shows up in the form of providing communication in 48 different languages (and counting!) and offering special software for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients. We prioritize making sure that patients of all backgrounds feel comfortable and cared for. For hospitals and outpatient facilities, this means streamlining our services to ensure their success. Services such as virtual and onsite training by registered nurses, continuous hardware and software updates, and access to HIPPA- trained technicians and real-time data reports are what truly set us apart from other VPO solutions.

How To Get Started 

We understand that each client’s needs are different, so we offer personalized demos to guarantee that MedSitter is the right fit for your patients. If you are ready to change your patients’ observation experience, we are ready to help! To get started, simply click here and fill out the short contact form. We so look forward to becoming your not-so-secret weapon!