Prisma Health Leverages Virtual Care to Support Patients and Team Members

With the demand for nursing services continuing to outpace the supply of nurses nationwide, South Carolina hospitals are finding innovative and cost-effective ways to address workforce shortages and ensure quality patient care. A Prisma Health pilot program using virtual care led to reduced documentation time for in-person nurses and improved patient outcomes.

“How many times in healthcare have you heard, ‘That’s the way we have always done it?’ This approach to care delivery is no longer sustainable or in the best interests of our patients and clinicians,” said Kristen Dickens, Director, Nursing Practice Excellence. “We must use our limited resources as efficiently and effectively as possible to ensure the best possible outcomes. It is imperative we adopt innovative virtual workforce strategies that complement our care delivery systems and add an extra layer of support to our patients and the in-person team members."  

“How many times in healthcare have you heard, ‘That’s the way we have always done it?’ This approach to care delivery is no longer sustainable or in the best interests of our patients and clinicians.” - Kristen Dickens, Director, Nursing Practice Excellence, Prisma Health

Virtual care telehealth technologies are more advanced than ever, offering secure transmission of electronic health data, high resolution video capabilities and real-time monitoring of patient conditions.

With a grant from the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance, the Virtual Care Partners Project was launched in March 2023, on a 24-bed surgical inpatient unit at the Prisma Health Tuomey campus in Sumter. Grant funds helped pay to hardwire patient rooms and an offsite hub with the equipment to host virtual clinical support. The project team trained four clinical nurses from the system’s internal resource pool to be Virtual Care Partners (VCPs). Responsibilities were clearly outlined for both in-person nurses and VCPs for admissions, discharges, and shift responsibilities.                                                                                                                                                  

In the first three months, two VCPs worked Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., with each VCP supporting twelve patients. Based on feedback from the VCPs and unit team members, the second three-month period utilized one VCP for the same days, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., with the VCP supporting the care of 24 patients. The VCP added an extra layer of patient support to the in-person team members.

The workforce shortage and its impact on quality and safety metrics were high priorities for the project team. The purpose of the quality improvement project was to examine the effect of the VCP program on discharge time, length of stay and readmissions. The results have been encouraging.

From March to November 2023, the program achieved a statistically significant increase in the percentage of discharges before 1 p.m. — from 24% to 62% (p=0.00) — and a statistically significant decrease in length of stay from 1.74 to 1.43 (p-0.00). Readmissions decreased from 0.80% to 0.18%.

As of July 2024, a total of 2,967 virtual nurse visits have been completed, saving bedside nurses a total of 338 hours and 12 minutes, about 26 minutes per shift.

Based on these successful results, two permanent nurses have been hired into an Acute Care Virtual RN role. The plan is to continue implementing the program throughout the pilot facility and then the Prisma Health system at large.