Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network is partnering with Mercy Virtual, a telehealth services provider, to develop a new virtual care model for critically ill patients.
Five notes:
1. AHN, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health, will implement telecommunication and remote patient monitoring technology in each intensive care unit room at four of its hospitals.
2. AHN clinicians will be able to interact with Mercy Health intensivist specialists, who will be able to continuously monitor patients' vital signs using the program's two-way video cameras.
3. The virtual ICU program will roll out at AHN hospitals over the next year, beginning with Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Pa., this fall.
4. The three remaining AHN hospitals joining the program are Natrona Heights, Pa.-based Allegheny Valley Hospital, Canonsburg (Pa.) Hospital and Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa.
5. Mercy Virtual comprises more than 300 clinicians who provide virtual care services to more than 40 hospitals. It is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Mercy health system.