Collette Health is a remote patient observation solution that allows one virtual patient sitter (your employee) to watch up to ten patients at one time. But remote observation doesn’t end there. Below is just a small portion of Collette Health’s Guide to remote patient observation. Read Collette Health’s full guide here.
Remote Patient Observation: What Is It?
A hospital is a place of healing. Within hospital walls, healthcare providers, pharmaceuticals, and technology all come together to improve the health and outcomes of patients. Unfortunately, there are still dozens if not hundreds of things that can go wrong during a hospital stay. In order to prevent as many bad outcomes as possible, hospitals lean on patient sitters for patient safety and satisfaction.
The primary function of a patient sitter and patient observation is to observe a patient with an elevated risk and prevent a bad outcome for that patient. The most pressing and preventable negative outcome is a patient fall. A widespread literature review recently found that virtual sitting via video monitoring was associated with a decrease in falls, from which we can conclude that virtual sitting is very effective. (Source: Journal of Nursing Education and Practice). And that is where Collette Health comes in.
Stop Patient Falls in Hospitals Before They Happen
No one goes to a hospital expecting to fall. A safe hospital stay is a reasonable expectation of every patient. Tragically, patient falls in hospitals can lead to an extended hospital stay and even significant injury.
Every year, 700,000 to 1,000,000 patient falls occur in US hospitals with roughly 250,000 of those falls leading to injury (Source: NCBI). A fall may result in fractures, lacerations, or internal bleeding, leading to increased health care utilization. However, research shows that close to one-third of falls can be prevented (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). You can stop patients falls before they happen—with remote patient observation.
The Collette Health Difference
When we founded Collette Health, we were addressing an important issue within the marketplace. The issue at the time was patient falls. Patient falls, despite being deemed a never event by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, still occur every day in hospitals across the nation. And when it comes to patient falls, most healthcare providers are forced to be reactive. The patient to staff ratio is never 1:1, leaving patients ample time alone to suffer an accident. In most cases, patients are not assigned a 1:1 sitter until they have already demonstrated risky behavior or suffered an accident – and that is if the nursing team has a 1:1 sitter available.
Collette Health is a remote patient observation solution that puts one observer in front of up to ten patients at one time, essentially making patient sitters 10x more effective. Both the Collette Health hardware and software were designed for clinicians and include some innovative features that are not seen anywhere else in the market. These features (along with many others) truly set the Collette Health solution apart:
- Persistent Video
With Collette Health, the connection between the patient and the observer is always on. If the observer needs to speak to the patient, they can appear onscreen on the Collette Health telemedicine cart with the click of a button. This instantaneous connection goes a long way in preventing adverse events. The video is particularly important, considering that the addition of nonverbal, contextual, and behavioral information leads to more effective communication in a healthcare environment when compared to audio-only communication. (Source: NCBI).
- Full-Field Night Vision
The sitter-controlled camera covers the entire patient room, regardless of the light conditions or the time of day.
- Cross-Language Communication
Not every patient requiring observation speaks English, and so the Collette Health software contains pre-recorded messages in more than 60 languages for quick communication with limited English proficiency patients. The system also includes a full library of pre-recorded video messages in American Sign Language, which helps healthcare facilities to fulfill their language access requirements as outlined by The Joint Commission. (Source: Joint Commission).
Read more about what sets Collette Health apart here.
The features listed here are completely unique to the Collette Health product and go a long way in helping remote observers be as effective as they can in preventing patient injury.
How to Reduce Patient Sitter Costs with Collette Health
The use of 1:1 patient observers can put a terrible strain, not only on nursing staff, but on nursing budgets, as well. It is also very disruptive to operational workflow; you are either hiring beyond your capacity, or you are pulling people from other duties to provide enhanced observation services. The industry average shows that sitters make $15.97/hour (Source: Zippia), and most hospitals maintain 24-hour sitters for 3.5% of their Average Daily Census.
Sitter management often falls within the nursing department. However, remote patient observation has begun to emerge as an optimal solution. The financial impact of remote patient observers can be incredibly substantial. Simply putting observer in charge of multiple patients saves in payroll, tax, management, and worker’s compensation expenses. You can take a look at some hypothetical scenarios here.
With Collette Health, more patients can be observed without requiring more staff members. If you want to maintain your current coverage percentage, you can reallocate your sitting staff to perform other vital duties throughout the hospital. Sitters can also be used for suicide/self-harm watch, while CNAs with patient care experience can be used to observe patients with Collette Health to provide remote patient care.
Remember, you are paying $16/hour for one observer regardless of whether they are watching one patient, or ten. Maximize your observer’s efficiency while providing additional coverage and care with Collette Health.
These are just a few segments from Collette Health’s Guide to Remote Patient Observation. Our full guide includes:
- How Collette Health Reduces Patient Sitter Fatigue
- Nursing Shortages/Release Valve for Nurses
- Prevent Nurse Burnout
- Patient Mental Well-Being in Isolation
- Leverage Collette Health Across Your Organization
If you would like to learn more or are interested in installing Collette Health in your healthcare facility, visit our Contact Us page.