Healthcare IT News recently highlighted the debut of Caregility’s iConsult Mobile telehealth application, noting that the company will give the technology free to clients to help combat COVID-19. (Read the full article Caregility unveils mobile telehealth app, gives it away to fight pandemic.)
The new mobile application includes far-end camera and audio controls and the ability to add other clinicians and family members on demand to any virtual consult with a patient at any location over any mobile device.
Caregility’s full COVID-19 Virtual Disaster Response Program includes capacity expansion of its UHE Telehealth platform for 90 days at no cost for current customers. That includes use of the iConsult Mobile application and iObserver virtual patient observation sitting application, which minimizes staff exposure to COVID-19.The iConsult Mobile application has an iOS and Android client that can quickly be leveraged on existing tablets and mobile devices so hospitals can rapidly scale up virtual care operations. Additionally, Caregility has created new streamlined mobile carts that are ready for rapid deployment in emergency departments and containment units for assessments, observation, screening and communication.
Hospital clients on the front line of the COVID-19 epidemic have been quick to put the telehealth solutions to use.
Houston Methodist has doubled its number of virtual visits, reporting over 1,000 patients seen via telehealth on March 19th in a recent interview with Becker’s Health IT editors. Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Roberta Schwartz PhD shared that “[Houston Methodist’s] virtual ICU, developed by Caregility and MIC Sick Bay, was quickly turned on for our COVID-19 patients so that many of our providers can see the patients via virtual visits and not risk exposure in our ICU rooms. I couldn’t be more proud of the technology infrastructure that is truly helping us serve the city.”
Washington-based Confluence Health revealed to News Radio 560KPQ that “along with many other healthcare providers, [Confluence] has halted elective surgeries and in person routine care visits, but has not halted services to patients.” The healthcare provider recently partnered with Caregility to provide two-way audio and video enabled virtual visits for non-emergent healthcare services. Virtual visits can be accessed using the existing Epic electronic medical record (EMR) patient portal, MyChart.
The recent Wall Street Journal article ICUs Leverage Remote Doctors and Telemedicine to Manage Coronavirus Deluge sheds light on Caregility client Northwell Health’s tele-ICU efforts during the pandemic. Northwell includes 23 hospitals and 72,000 employees across New York, one of the hardest hit states in the outbreak. The healthcare organization has increased tele-ICU beds from 170 to 420 with plans to accommodate even greater patient volumes. “Northwell has a telehealth command center in Syosset, NY, from which teams of critical-care physicians and nurses are already monitoring more than 130 beds, of which 116 are occupied by COVID-19 patients,” said Director of Clinical Operations of Telehealth Services Kara Benneche at the time the article was published.
To learn how Caregility can support your team’s virtual care needs during COVID-19, please reach out to us at (732) 440-8040 or at CaregilityCares@Caregility.com.