Denver (KDVR) — Virtual Care Center in Denver is providing a new approach to healthcare. HealthONE’s center has about 65 employees and can monitor and assist patients at nine hospitals in Colorado and Kansas.

Tracie Klassen is the Vice President of Nursing Operations at Virtual Care Center. She says one area of the center handles patient admission and discharge virtually. Patients and staff have the option to connect over a screen.

“Our virtual nurses can, what we call, “beam” into the room and their face will be on the television,” Klassen said.

Another group uses Artificial Intelligence and predictive analytics to go over patient labs and vitals from different hospitals. If there is an alert, they can jump in.

“I take a deep dive, read the doctors’ notes, nurses’ notes, check the trends on the lab and the vitals, see what’s going on. Then I try to see if I can come up with interventions,” said Michael Hayden, a virtual registered nurse.

The center also has an area for virtual sitters where staff can monitor patients 24/7 with the use of cameras in the patients’ rooms. 

Klassen says patients are notified of the cameras, nothing is recorded and the goal is to keep patients safe.

“If it is immediate and they see that there is a safety situation that’s coming, they actually will page overhead for the entire department to mobilize the entire care team,” she said. 

In the virtual telemetry department, staff can monitor patient heart rhythms, and if an abnormality is found, the team can intervene.

The group hopes this virtual assistance will improve patient outcomes and allow in-person nurses to focus on bedside care.