What You Should Know:
– Mount Sinai deploys Google Nest cameras across the system to help patients with COVID-19 that will enhance the safety of patients and staff, as well as reducing PPE demands.
– Google Nest partnered with Mount Sinai in April to pilot the console in a hospital setting as the virus reached peak levels in New York City.
The Mount Sinai Health System has teamed up with Google Nest to use the latest in video and audio technologies to monitor some of the most critically ill patients with COVID-19. Nurses on the front line are using more than a hundred Nest Cameras installed at hospitals across the system to closely monitor and communicate with patients. In addition, the deployment will help preserve personal protective equipment (PPE).
“This technology improves our efficiency by cutting down the number of times our medical team has to enter patient rooms, allowing us to preserve protective personal equipment. Twofold, it enhances safety for patients because we can keep an eye on everyone from the nursing station, and for our staff, it minimizes the frequency of time spent in-room with COVID-19 patients,” said Robbie Freeman, MSN, RN, Vice President of Clinical Innovations at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Pilot Project to Combat COVID-19 Pandemic
The purpose-built Nest Cameras console enables health care workers to livestream a feed from an inpatient unit and initiate communication with patients. Google Nest joined efforts with Mount Sinai in April to pilot the console in a hospital setting as the virus reached peak levels in New York City and continued to spread across the nation, causing an influx of patients and straining resources for all hospitals. Google plans to provide up to 10,000 of the devices along with custom-designed monitoring consoles to health systems and hospitals across the U.S. To address security and patient privacy concerns, the Google Nest console system is designed so that Google doesn’t store any patient footage collected.
“The Mount Sinai Health System remains committed to providing thoughtful, personalized care to patients while using the latest in cutting-edge technologies and digital health solutions,” said Sudipto Srivastava, MBA, Senior Director of Digital Health, Mount Sinai Health System. “We are grateful to partner with Google in curating a console that responds to the needs of so many hospitals right now. The Nest team worked with us over nights and weekends to develop a much-needed solution that addressed real challenges. This assists us with providing the highest level of care, while serving our patients and protecting our staff.”
The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island.
