The hospital in Urbana, Ill., part of the Presence Health network, used video and voice monitors in rooms to monitor fall-risk patients and sent nurses in if those patients tried to leave their beds without assistance, according to the News-Gazette. Physicians and nurses in a Presence Health facility in Bolingbrook, Ill., where the company is based, watched the vital signs of a patient and used the cameras to alert the Covenant staff if something is wrong.
The pilot study went well enough to be considered for implementation at other Presence Health hospitals, preventing 15 patient falls in a 69-day period, according to the report.
Preventing patient falls can reduce the length of stay, reducing costs as well as patient injuries. Using remote patient monitoring also saves the cost of having to have a staff member there to watch the patient in person.
