Pediatric hospitals face increasingly complex challenges. From increasing volumes and staffing shortages to growing expenses and disrupted supply chains, these hospitals could have a long journey ahead to regain financial viability after the pandemic.
Many hospitals are cutting pediatric units to make room for more “lucrative” adult services, putting even greater pressure on pediatric hospitals.
While the challenges aren’t going away any time soon, there are steps pediatric hospitals can take to improve operational efficiencies, lower costs, and enhance patient care. One of the most effective is to leverage video solutions for Pediatric Hospitals. The following are five departments that can see near-immediate impact.
Emergency Department
The emergency department (ED) is one of the most expensive and resource-constrained settings in healthcare. Leveraging video solutions for pediatric hospitals enables ED providers to focus on the most acute patients while ensuring all patients promptly receive the care they need.
With telehealth for pediatric patients, providers can quickly and efficiently evaluate and triage patients from any location before they are admitted to the emergency department. This enables providers to redirect low-acuity patients to more appropriate care settings depending on their condition.
Telehealth video solutions also enable pediatric ED patients and their families to receive timely virtual consultations with high-demand specialists who may be located elsewhere. This ensures children have the best care without waiting for a specialist to come onsite.
Video solutions for pediatric hospitals may also reduce wait times in the ED, fewer backlogs, and less overcrowding—all of which can improve patient and parent satisfaction.
PICU
Caring for critically ill children requires a high degree of clinical expertise and round-the-clock monitoring. With the limited resources so many pediatric hospitals face, it can be challenging to provide the appropriate level of care for complex cases outside of the ED. Telehealth for pediatric patients can help.
For example, pediatric hospitals can create a centralized PICU monitoring station where clinicians, also known as “virtual sitters,” can safely watch over multiple children in multiple PICU locations from a single “command center.” When an issue arises, onsite clinicians can be quickly notified.
With telehealth for pediatric patients, bedside carts can be equipped with digital stethoscopes, Horus scopes, and other devices to enable remote providers to continuously monitor a child’s vitals and other physical attributes. This allows prompt intervention for high-risk cases and can improve outcomes for these often-complex cases.
Post-acute Care
According to research from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (PHRQ), nearly 20% of patients experience an adverse event in the first three weeks after discharge from a hospital or emergency department, many of which are preventable. Leveraging video solutions for pediatric hospitals can help providers more effectively care for these vulnerable children during this critical time.
Providers can use telehealth video conferencing technology to regularly meet with post-discharge patients and their parents to assess their progress. If issues are detected, they can be quickly addressed so children can continue on their road to recovery. This enhances the care experience for children and their families while also improving outcomes and reducing avoidable costs.
Physical Therapy
Keeping pediatric patients engaged in their physical therapy (PT) treatment plan is necessary for optimal outcomes. Video solutions for pediatric hospitals can help increase care plan adherence by enabling patients and their families to participate in therapy sessions without having to travel to the hospital.
Parents appreciate having the option of their children participating in some or all of their PT sessions at home. This flexibility can help improve completion rates and outcomes. It can also improve patient and parent satisfaction and word-of-mouth referrals. Hospitals may also benefit through reduced no-shows, late arrivals, and cancellations.
Behavioral Health
According to an article by the American Psychological Association, “In the 10 years leading up to the pandemic, feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness—as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors—increased by about 40% among young people.” The pandemic only exacerbated these challenges. The article explains that on top of isolation and virtual learning, many children witnessed the loss of loved ones, the loss of a parent’s job and family income, and even child abuse.
Telehealth for pediatric patients can help by enabling children living with behavioral health conditions to see a provider no matter where the provider or child is located. With high-quality audio and visual equipment, providers can effectively assess, triage, and diagnose a child’s condition. This ensures that they get on the right treatment plan quickly.
The time to act is now
Caring for pediatric patients is a highly specialized medical practice and requires highly specialized solutions. Telehealth for pediatric patients is a great example. Telehealth enables pediatric hospitals to care for the most vulnerable patients by bringing the best providers and specialists to the patient’s bedside regardless of location.
While staffing shortages, increased expenses, and other challenges aren’t going away any time soon, video solutions for pediatric hospitals can help bridge the gap to ensure equitable access to quality care.
VidyoHealth can help. VidyoHealth video solutions for pediatric hospitals are flexible, scalable, and intuitive, enabling providers to deliver fast, easy, and reliable virtual care experiences when and where they’re needed most—from hospitals to provider practices to schools, acute care settings, home environments, and more. VidyoHealth’s best-of-breed video conferencing solutions can be fully embedded into existing clinical workflows, allowing providers to create use cases based on the unique needs of the populations they serve.
If you want to learn more about the VidyoHealth video solutions for pediatric hospitals, visit https://www.vidyohealth.com today!