Virtual Care In Your Future?

After years of resistance to virtual health care, doctors and patients are now embracing it. The COVID-19 virus crisis brought this on, but when this article was originally published in 2015, a future pandemic was not seriously on anyone's minds. 

This story is about virtual care centers helping doctors and hospitals monitor patients and provide specialized support services where specialists are not available.

A four-story, 125,000-square-foot building in Chesterfield, Missouri, houses the world's first Virtual Care Center. Described as a 'hospital without beds,' 330 employees will work in the facility without any beds.

It's like a hospital without beds.

We have the medical team here, but with technology like highly sensitive cameras and real-time vital signs, our providers can 'see' patients where they are. That may be in one of Mercy's traditional hospitals, a physician office or in some cases, the patient's home.

 Dr. Randy Moore, president of Mercy Virtual.

Mercy is the seventh-largest Catholic health care system in the U.S. and serves millions annually.

This was the forefront of virtual care which has become more widespread since 2015, allowing for routine doctor's appointments to be done using Zoom-like technology. 

Mercy Virtual. is more specialized. Much smaller ERs and facilities don't have top specialists like neurologists on-site. Doctors, nurses, and other staff can monitor emergency rooms, ICU's and hospital beds assisting the local staff of other facilities on a 24/7 basis. This provides expertise to provide higher quality care.

A team of doctors are dedicated to seeing patients within the hospital around-the-clock using this virtual care technology. They can order needed tests or read results, resulting in quicker care.

In addition, they provide continuous monitoring for hundreds of chronically ill patients in their homes after hospitalization.

Virtual Care Being Used for Long-Term Health Care

This is an expansion of virtual long-term health care services that are helping those in their homes avoid nursing facilities. These long-term health care innovations may bring a computer tablet to every home where a person requires extended care. 

As America ages and more people require long-term health care services, these types of virtual services will help with quality and cost and help relieve some of the burdens on family members.

Virtual long-term care services can vary significantly, and almost all programs can be used in combination with a home health aide or other home care.

The expansion of virtual care in all areas of health care will give health consumers many more choices. It can support care teams no matter where they are located. Virtual care technology connects family members with family members and their providers. Plus, the ability to monitor a care recipient 24/7 adds to better quality care, peace of mind, and reduces negative consequences.

We're testing the concept that a virtual visit every day in the homes of those patients will keep them healthier and out of the hospital.

Rather than having a lot of different doctors for each of those patients' conditions, they have one doctor who's monitoring everything. The people and technology in place here make that possible.

Dr. Randy Moore

There are Costs

There is a cost for this technology, but it can save money in the long run. However, quality caregivers and facilities are still expensive, and unless the care recipient owns a Long-Term Care Insurance policy, much of this care will come out of pocket.

Many people today are turning to Long-Term Care Insurance to have access to guaranteed tax-free resources to pay for quality care choices in any setting. Some policies will even pay benefits toward technology options.

Most consumers obtain coverage in their 50s as part of their retirement planning.