Genesis hospitals have "hired" 17 new staff members, but they won't need lunch breaks or vacation days. This week, Genesis Medical Centers announced it's using AvaSys Tele-Sitters to monitor high-risk patients.
Spokesman Craig Cooper says the monitors were installed in January. And instead of assigning a nurse to take care of one patient all day, the tele-sitters do the job for them.
So far, Cooper says the tele-sitters have covered 17-hundred 8-hour shifts. That's saved 122,000-dollars, and the savings will cover the full cost of the equipment, which is about 300,000-dollars a year for five years.
If an emergency happens, Cooper says the monitor technician sounds an alarm, notifying nurses. And, patients can talk to the person watching the monitors, through an audio system.
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The tele-sitters are also programmed to use multiple languages.
Before Genesis started using the tele-sitters last January, Cooper says there were zero patient incidents, such as falls and injuries. And the purpose of the new monitors is to keep it that way, and save money.
Genesis Medical Centers in Davenport, DeWitt, Silvis, and Aledo have all implemented the tele-sitters.