It’s no secret that most hospitals are desperately trying to find solutions for the staffing crisis. The crisis, which stretches from physicians and nurses to nearly every support role in the industry, is driving an increase in caregiver burnout, adverse events and dragging down patient satisfaction.

The resulting increase in labor costs, the single largest expense for healthcare organizations, is putting nearly a third of US hospitals in the red. And adverse events, with falls leading the way, is costing the nation’s hospitals $34 billion every year.

While the solution to these current and continuing challenges will need to be multifaceted, technology and new models of care are certain to play a critical role.

Virtual sitter solutions represent an important piece of this new model of care. The original platforms were designed in an effort to help extend caregivers’ reach into patient rooms to prevent falls, but the solutions have remained largely static since their introduction over 15 years ago.

“No other virtual sitter solution on the market offers AI-enablement, monitoring of unlimited patients, and the ability to drill directly into a room via audio/video in the event of an issue,” states Ghafran Abbas, Chief Executive Officer at Vitalchat.

Vitalchat, a transformational telehealth software company focused on delivering easy-to-use, feature-rich solutions at a lower cost, has launched the next generation of e-sitter technology. Leveraging artificial intelligence and true tele-visit functionality, Vitalchat’s patent-pending e-sitter solution allows staff to monitor an unlimited number of patient rooms, safely and efficiently.

“By utilizing AI to help direct the caregiver’s attention only to rooms and patients that require attention, our platform is designed to reduce alarm fatigue, extend staff capabilities and reduce everything from patient falls and pressure ulcers to workplace violence,” states Ghafran Abbas, Chief Executive Officer at Vitalchat.

“No other solution on the market offers AI-enablement, monitoring of unlimited patients, and the ability to drill directly into a room via audio/video in the event of an issue,” Abbas continued.

The cost for the Vitalchat system, both from a hardware and licensing standpoint are considerably lower than other solutions and require no third-party licensing or infrastructure. Additionally, the AI-enablement means that video doesn’t need to live stream, meaning that bandwidth requirements are drastically lowered.

These two factors represent a significant opportunity for rural hospitals and communities in particular who often struggle with connectivity challenges.

“We have worked from the beginning to build and continue to evolve a telehealth platform that provides critical features and pricing that allows healthcare organizations of every size to scale their virtual care. Our AI-enabled virtual sitter is one more way to fulfill this promise,” said Abbas.