Hospital beds are rapidly filling up with coronavirus patients and Mercy plans on using its Virtual Care program to alleviate that pressure.
Those COVID-19 patients who need low flow-rates of oxygen and have mild symptoms will receive virtual COVID-19 care. This 24-hour care will include oxygen saturation measurements (pulse oxiometry), adjusting oxygen flow, along with additional evaluations and appropriate interventions.
“We have learned that not all patients who were admitted at the onset of COVID-19 need to be hospitalized,” said Dr. Carter Fenton, medical director of Mercy Virtual vAcute, in a Mercy Press Release. “By caring for select patients at home, with ongoing monitoring and management, we can reserve the hospital beds for those with more serious disease symptoms.”
Mercy says it has coordinated to learn techniques and insight from other healthcare providers who have had a lot of patients, including New York’s Northwell Health.
The hospital has expressed confidence in the abilities of its virtual team.
“We’re able to take our five years of experience in providing virtual, in-home care and translate it into caring for COVID-19 patients,” says Dr. Gavin Helton, Mercy Virtual president. “We hope by caring for certain COVID-19 patients in their homes, it will make them more comfortable and still connected to care, while lightening the load on hospital caregivers and in-patient resources.”
