What You Should Know:
– VirtuAlly and Teledigm Health announced a collaborative agreement to bring innovative virtual nursing services to the rural healthcare systems and critical access hospitals served by Teledigm Health, tackling longstanding challenges of limited provider access and staffing shortages.
– VirtuAlly’s virtual nursing model is designed to directly counter these challenges by supporting onsite care teams, enabling rural health systems to potentially reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and improve patient outcomes.
Virtual Nursing: A Lifeline for Strained Rural Hospitals
Rural residents across the United States often encounter serious obstacles in accessing healthcare, primarily due to a scarcity of local providers. A critical aspect of this issue is the shortage of registered nurses (RNs), with fewer than 20% residing in rural areas. This deficit significantly impacts the ability of rural facilities to deliver consistent, quality care to their communities.
Through this new partnership with Teledigm Health, VirtuAlly’s “always-on” virtual nursing services will initially support partner hospital systems across the Midwest. This collaboration is aimed at elevating the RN skill set to better assist critical care patients, with an anticipated average reduction of 20% in nurse turnover. By integrating virtual nurses, on-site nursing staff can dedicate more time to direct patient needs and critical tasks, alleviating administrative burdens and improving job satisfaction.
“Recruiting and retaining nurses in rural areas has become a significant challenge for healthcare systems across these communities,” stated Angel Bozard, Chief Nursing Officer at VirtuAlly. “The partnership between VirtuAlly and Teledigm will address this critical need. Everyone deserves access to quality care — no matter where they live. Our virtual nurses seamlessly support rural healthcare systems and ensure patients receive the care they need and deserve, all while providing the on-site staff with the critical support to focus on bedside tasks.”
