Virtual Nursing, Sitting Platforms Help Alleviate Staff Shortages

Healthcare professionals appear satisfied with their virtual nursing and sitting solutions, with a majority noting that they have positively impacted staffing issues, according to a new KLAS report.

The inaugural KLAS Virtual Sitting & Nursing 2023 report examined customer experiences and outcomes at healthcare organizations using virtual nursing and virtual sitting platforms. According to the report, virtual sitting software allows healthcare organizations to observe patients and prevent adverse events, while virtual nursing software enables remote nurses to perform tasks, such as discharge planning and documentation, and aid bedside nurses. Both typically involve the use of in-room video and audio hardware.

For the report, researchers interviewed healthcare professionals over the last year using KLAS' standard quantitative evaluation for healthcare software comprising 16 numeric ratings questions and four yes/no questions.

Of 43 healthcare professionals surveyed, 98 percent said their current virtual nursing and virtual sitting solution is a part of their long-term plans. Additionally, of the 39 respondents who answered the question regarding their solution's impact on staffing shortages, 59 percent said their solution had a very positive impact, and 28 percent said it had a moderately positive impact. Only 13 percent said their solution had a neutral impact.

"Organizations have increased their observation capacity from a 1:1 sitter-to-patient ratio so that one sitter can now observe several patients," the report states. "This has helped free up skilled clinical staff who were assigned to sitting roles, allowing them to apply their skills and expertise more meaningfully elsewhere."

The report also detailed the performance of specific solutions. For instance, the report shows that AvaSure earned an overall performance score of 89.7 on a 100-point scale, while Collette Health (formerly MedSitter) received a score of 89.4.

Most AvaSure customers used the company's solution for virtual siting. Customers gave the solution's ability to drive tangible outcomes a score of 8.1 on a scale of 1 to 9, saying that it helped reduce patient falls and tube/line interferences.

Further, 72 percent of customers said that the company avoids charging for every little thing. But, this percentage was lower than the average across all software KLAS measures.

"One concern AvaSure respondents have is the system's cost — several feel nickel-and-dimed for cameras and necessary equipment," the report states.

Though most customers plan on keeping their AvaSure solution, they noted that having manageable ongoing costs around equipment longevity, equipment replacement, and scaling is critical.

Similarly, a majority of Collette Health customers used its platform for virtual sitting. Customers noted that the use of the solution led to reduced patient falls and the ability to mitigate staffing shortages.

While customers gave the vendor high ratings for its phone/web support quality and largely agreed that its products have the needed functionality, some want more reporting and analytics capabilities.

KLAS researchers also interviewed customers of other solutions, including ones from Care.ai, Vitalchat, and Watcher. But, there was not enough data to fully assess the customer experience and outcomes for these solutions.

The report's findings align with recent research into the growing interest in virtual nursing.

Survey results published earlier this week show that 75 percent of healthcare professionals view virtual nursing as a recruitment opportunity to hire nurses who cannot or will not work at the bedside.

The survey conducted by Joslin Insight on behalf of AvaSure polled 789 healthcare professionals in April.

However, the survey also revealed that while 64 percent of respondents said their organization has already implemented or is considering implementing virtual nursing, 14 percent said their organization had not due to a lack of confidence in return on investment.