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Orlando Health begins virtual sitting for inpatient care

Technology improves 24/7 watch over patients at risk of harm to themselves

virtual sitters

Orlando, FL (September 5, 2023) - Orlando Health is the first hospital system in the region to implement new technology that enables caregivers to virtually monitor the rooms of inpatients who are at risk of harm to themselves.

A virtual sitter will provide 24/7 oversight remotely through mobile cameras with video monitoring software. They can observe patients at risk for harm due to issues such as confusion, delirium, falling or leaving the room.

The program is an extension of Orlando Health’s current model of delivering high-quality care to patients. On-site sitters will continue to watch over high-risk patients from inside their room to prevent a harmful incident.

The program has launched with 48 carts throughout Orlando Health - Health Central Hospital, Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital, Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital and Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center.

"Maximizing this technology is vital to our strategy for enhancing the quality, safety and experience of care," said Kelly Edmondson, vice president, Nursing & Patient Care. “We can focus our on-site sitters more heavily on higher risk patients, such as those requiring restraints or who are high or moderate risk of self-harm."

Through the technology, a virtual sitter can speak directly to a patient when detecting a potential incident and provide guidance and instruction to keep them safe. Concurrently, the sitter can alert a nurse or others on the clinical care team to intervene promptly.

In addition to virtual sitting, the new platform supports two-way communication with patients in real-time. For example, video sessions can be conducted for care teams, relatives and other providers to collaborate on the patient's care.

 

About Orlando Health

Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a private, not-for-profit healthcare organization with $9.2 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level I Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level II Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows.

The 3,888-bed system includes 29 hospitals and emergency departments – 24 of which are currently operational with five coming soon. The system also includes nine specialty institutes, more than 100 adult and pediatric primary care practices, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility under the management of Acadia Healthcare, and more than 60 outpatient facilities that include imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,750 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 27,000 team members and more than 1,200 physicians.

In FY22, Orlando Health served nearly 142,000 inpatients and 3.9 million outpatients. The healthcare system provided more than $782 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more in FY 21, the most recent period for which this information is available. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.