Remote employment is increasingly offered at health systems as a way to support telehealth visits, in-person caregivers and administrative work.
Becker's has reported on three such systems this year, including Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, which has 40 virtual nurses working at 15 of its hospitals.
"Brick and mortar cost a lot of money," HCA Chief Nursing Informatics Officer Sherri Hess, BSN, RN, told Becker's in April. "I think the future is working at home."
This has allowed the system to hire nurses licensed in multiple states, which is helpful given HCA's coast-to-coast presence.
Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health and Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health have implemented their own virtual nursing program. It pairs virtual nurses and bedside nurses so the remote workers can provide support in the form of reviewing charts, coordinating with families and processing discharges.
This allows bedside nurses more time to provide hands-on care, Tim Plante, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer at CommonSpirit Health Central Region, previously told Becker's.
Cleveland Clinic also offers remote and hybrid roles, including in systems and financial analysis, human resources, scheduling, authorization and patient financial advocacy, a spokesperson previously told Becker's.
The remote-work strategy was rolled out in June 2021, and as of December, more than 11,000 employees spent at least part of their work week remotely.