By Dusti Browning, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Conduit pivots to enhance Virtual Care and Hospital at Home services offerings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic straining the capabilities of health centers.
Since 2020, the Covid-19 response has been a priority not only for healthcare organizations but for all organizations great or small. The need to ensure safety in the workplace has been a priority. Early in the pandemic, Conduit pivoted to support communities, health systems and employers. We offered information lines, participated in planning for hospital capacity management and load balancing, we created programs for vaccination supports as well as for the purpose of screening associated with the ability to return to work safely.
Healthcare organizations are struggling for a variety of reasons:
- High Census
- Higher Acuity Patients
- Depleted Resources (both people and supply chain-related)
These have created challenges in the patient care areas, crafting the perfect storm.
COVID-19 vs. The Great Resignation
We are at a crossroads for having to examine how we provide care and find options to do things differently while still preserving quality and patient safety. Fortunately, Conduit Health Partners’ workforce and talent pipeline has remained strong since all of this. Conduit is in a position to offer support through remote patient monitoring of those with chronic conditions, but also for acute care.
Hospital at Home
A concept that allows for acutely ill patients to be cared for as an in-patient, but in their own home using a combination of in-person and virtual services. Promoting safe care provided by licensed staff and providing a solution for bed capacity issues within the facilities.
There are also many opportunities to augment bedside care. Think about how we can support nurses in their day-to-day by using virtual technology to offer resources.
Imagine the virtual nurse assisting with completing tasks that have historically been the responsibility of the bedside staff whether it be:
- Medication Reconciliation
- Assisting with Admission History
- Providing Discharge Education
Additional Services
Conduit can also use virtual or remote staff to participate in patient rounding or to provide sitter services. We have the ability to use highly skilled remote teams to support centralized monitoring of biometrics or to use predicted analytics to recognize early patient titration. We also have an opportunity to offer experienced nursing interactions to the novice nurse whenever needed.
A virtual resource such as this would go a long way to promote patient safety and to ensure that nurses feel supported when faced with clinical challenges. As healthcare leaders, we have not only the opportunity but the obligation to meet and offset the challenges of the new normal
Conduit Health Partners is committed to partnering to provide solutions that optimize care quality and patient safety using technology in the economies of scale a remote workforce can support.
About the Author
Dusti Browning is the Vice President, Client Solutions at Conduit Health Partners. She joined Conduit Health Partners in 2017 to develop the triage program. 2018 she assumed her responsibilities as System Director for Transfer Center, Triage, and Virtual Care. In her current role, Dusti is responsible for creating clinical solutions and operationalizing new programs.
Learn more about Dusti here.
