Ochsner’s Virtual Nursing Project Cuts Readmissions

By Paige Twenter

At New Orleans-based Ochsner Health, virtual nurses are assigned to 370 med-surg unit beds to alleviate bedside nurses’ workloads. In the next few months, this project will expand to 600 beds.

Walker Dupre, Ochsner’s telemedicine director of virtual nursing services, told Becker’s that the system began its journey into virtual nursing care in 2012. In intensive care units, virtual nurses proactively round on patients through a two-way camera, perform documentation, ensure procedures are correct and alert bedside nurses if a patient is coding or deteriorating.

“I always call our nurses in virtual critical care like our ‘Top Gun’ of the system.’ They are the most experienced, most knowledgeable nurses that we have,” he said, adding that most have more than 30 years of experience.

In July 2023, discharges were added into the fold. After a discharge order is written, the virtual nurses who focus on discharges review patient charts and medicine recommendations. They then “enter” the patient’s room through video and carefully review the post-discharge regimen.

“A common theme is that patients usually just don’t have a good understanding of what their regimen should be once they’re at home to keep them in good health,” he said.

As the bedside nurses provide care for their other patients, the virtual nurse can offer a non-rushed discharge experience to one patient at a time.

Since last summer, he said the readmission rate has fallen as much as 5%. It varies each month, but on average, readmission rates are 2 to 3 percentage points lower than historical averages. This improvement surprised Ochsner, Mr. Dupre said.

Other results have been higher Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, the retention of nurses considering retirement and improved sepsis rounding.  The Sepsis Risk Adjusted Mortality Index has declined from 1.2 to 0.89, and once even fell to 0.29, Mr. Dupre said.

Eight of Ochsner’s 46 hospitals currently use these virtual services, and in early 2025, Ochsner will roll out an admissions feature.