Trinity Health Of New England Hospitals Launch Virtual Monitoring Program

HARTFORD, Conn. — To further the ongoing work to make patient care as safe as possible, Trinity Health Of New England has implemented the AvaSure virtual monitoring program to help monitor patients at risk for falls or safety concerns. AvaSure virtual monitoring — which will not replace one-on-one monitoring for patients with high-risk safety concerns such as suicidal tendencies — is in place at Mercy Medical Center, Saint Francis Hospital, Johnson Memorial Hospital, and Saint Mary’s Hospital.

“Within the short period of time that we have been utilizing AvaSure, the technology has had a noticeable positive impact on patient outcomes,” said Lisa Zapatka, regional chief Nursing officer for Trinity Health Of New England. “Our colleagues have found the program to be a very effective solution to promote patient safety and a valuable resource to the patient-care team.”

This non-recording virtual monitoring system, called the AvaSure TeleSitter, uses hardware and software to transmit a continuous video feed to a central monitoring location. There, a virtual monitoring attendant can conduct interventions through a two-way audio conversation or notify the patient’s care team if in-person care is needed.

Patient privacy is protected with the AvaSure Telesitter. In addition to the video and audio streams never being recorded, the virtual monitoring attendant is able to activate a privacy screen in the software, turning off video at the request of the care team. Trinity Health has two monitoring hubs nationally, located at Loyola University Health System in Maywood, Ill. and at Trinity Health Of New England in Hartford, Conn.