These days, James, the retired carpenter, 74, even though he suffers from a severe disease, doesn't want to go to a hospital. And he doesn't need to. The reason: James now gets his care from Mercy Virtual Care Center some 50 miles away
Equipped with an iPad and devices such as a blood pressure monitor and scale that stream his vital signs and other data from his home to the Center, James and his doctors have been able to detect small health shifts in time to prevent a worse condition."We can trend the data on a daily basis and intervene in many cases even before patients experience symptoms(症状),"says Gavin Helton, Mercy's medical director
James and his Mercy team are pioneers in the next big thing in telemedicine, the virtual care clinic whose doctors and nurses provide the major care from miles away. Virtual care itself isn't new: For a number of years, hospitals have contracted with remote critical care specialists to monitor their ICU patients and have relied on teleconsults with specialists to provide guidance or second opinions. But Mercy Virtual takes the concept to a whole other level
The 125,000-square-foot facility has no waiting rooms, hospital beds or patients on site. Instead, it houses more than 300 medical professionals who sit in front of monitors and computer displays,watching over the care of patients at 38 hospitals. In addition to internists(重症医师)who observe patients at distant ICU, neurologists(神经学家) provide guidance on stroke treatment to community hospitals. A team of virtual hospitals orders and reads tests, and nurses deal with questions about everything from nosebleeds to infections. Other clinicians, like James' doctors, stay in near continuous touch with patients at home
The concept is working. Death rate in the ICU "is trending 40 percent less than predicted," says Moore, Mercy Virtual's president."By virtually monitoring ICUs 24/7, we're getting to problems earlier."The result, he says, is that Mercy in the past year sent home 1,000 ICU patients who otherwise would have been expected to die and saved $40 million
