The hospital’s 144 beds all have 65-inch Epic Bedside TVs that take the place of whiteboards. The screens display patients’ dietary restrictions, upcoming tests and pain scores and goals, as well as the names and pictures of their nurses and attending physicians. Patients can access educational materials about their care as well as DirecTV for entertainment.
High-resolution cameras and the Epic Monitor platform enable virtual nurses to monitor and check in with patients as needed. Ultimately, the technology will detect when patients are at risk for falling or pulling out their IV lines.
“The future of hospital rooms is with these devices,” Edward Sankary, MD, vice president and chief health information and value officer of UT Health San Antonio, told Becker’s. He called them a “game changer for the delivery of inpatient technology.”
It was easier to set up the technology as a part of the new build, he said. While the technology adds several thousands of dollars to the cost of a hospital room, the return on investment is patient experience and quality of care. For instance, the cameras have such high resolution that virtual nurses can see what medications a patient is taking to verify they are the correct ones. Virtual nurses, located on site at the hospital, help with admissions, discharges and rounding.
“If you can get the discharge documentation early, you can work on that transition of care,” Dr. Sankary said. “You provide a more seamless experience for the patient to transition to their next site of care, whether it’s home, a skilled nursing facility, rehab.”
The TVs also can facilitate up to six virtual visitors at a time, say, a nurse, physician and four family members all talking remotely.
Dr. Sankary predicts this in-room technology will eventually be able to automatically launch ambient AI scribes, which are now activated via smartphone apps. UT Health San Antonio uses Abridge’s ambient AI platform.
“As one designs hospitals and hospital rooms for the future, you need to be thinking about this technology,” Dr. Sankary said.
