Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |
The cutting edge of health care technology is not found in Silicon Valley or New York City or Seattle. Instead, what is being called the world's first virtual care center is found smack in the middle of the nation's heartland in Chesterfield, Mo.
Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |
Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |
The doors opened Tuesday at Mercys Virtual Care Center, the world's first facility dedicated entirely to telemedicine outside its own walls. A four-story, 125,000-sq. ft. building, the Virtual Care Center houses 330 Mercy staff, but no patients.
"It's like a hospital without beds," says Randy Moore, president of Mercy Virtual. "We have the medical team here, but with technology like highly-sensitive cameras and real-time vital signs, our providers can 'see' patients where they are. That may be in one of Mercy's traditional hospitals, a physician office or, in some cases, the patient's home."
The $54 million building is the nerve center for Mercy's existing telemedicine programs and includes:
- Mercy SafeWatch – Launched in 2006, it's the largest single-hub electronic intensive care unit (ICU) in the nation. Doctors and nurses monitor patients' vital signs and provide a second set of eyes to bedside caregivers in 30 ICUs across five states. SafeWatch ICUs have seen a 15 percent reduction in patient length of stay.
- Telestroke – Many community emergency departments across the country don't have a neurologist on-site. With Mercy's telestroke program, patients who come to the ED with symptoms of a stroke can be seen immediately by a neurologist via telemedicine.
- Virtual Hospitalists – A team of doctors is dedicated to seeing patients within the hospital around-the-clock using virtual care technology. They can order needed tests or read results, resulting in quicker care.
- Home Monitoring – Mercy provides continuous monitoring for hundreds of chronically ill patients in their homes after hospitalization.
Mercy's Virtual Care Center is also designed to be a workspace for innovations in patient care and product testing. With meeting spaces that boast multiple floor-to-ceiling whiteboards on tracks and giant computer monitors, the building invites collaboration and new ideas for getting care to patients when and where they need it, with less expense.
Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |
Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |
Photo courtesy of Mercy Health |