Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health plans to roll out virtual nurses at its hospitals around the state of Michigan — and nationwide.
Trinity will debut them across Michigan soon after a successful pilot project at Trinity Health Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich., the Grand Rapids Business Journal reported Jan. 12.
The health system also intends to launch them across its 88 hospitals in 26 states in the next 12 to 17 months, CEO Mike Slubowski told Becker's recently.
The initiative includes a floor nurse, either a certified nursing assistant or licensed practical nurse, and a virtual, on-screen nurse working together to support patients in the face of staffing shortages.
"We've seen that [virtual nurses] don't just fill in the gaps, they are actually able to proactively anticipate the needs for the patient as opposed to the patient or the family having to initiate those questions," Christie Sansom, vice president and transformation officer at Trinity Health, told the Business Journal. "That's really the incredible benefit of this team model."