Presence Health, headquartered in Chicago, has announced that four of the system's hospitals have introduced technology to monitor patients who are at risk for falling from their beds, according to WAND.
The technology is called Remote Sitter and is currently under patent review. It allows a healthcare worker to monitor at-risk patients from a remote station. Monitor operatives are trained to read body language and recognize when a patient is likely to attempt leaving their bed in a semi-conscious state after waking. Once this type of movement is detected, the system audibly instructs the patient to remain in their bed.
Four Presence hospitals in Illinois now have the Remote Sitter: Presence United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville, Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Presence Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago and Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston. Plans to distribute the telehealth platform to more hospitals are under development.
According to WAND, Presence Health TeleHealth Strategy and Development System Director Laura Messineo RN, said, "[This] is an important tool in our ongoing effort to provide the highest quality of care and ensuring patient safety. Since the inception of the program we have had no adverse patient outcomes or patient falls."
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