Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1524413
13 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 2 Care Connect is another key tool that rounds out Banyan's technology platform. This proprietary tool is integrated with a healthcare organization's admission, discharge and transfer (ADT) feed and automates all scheduled workflow notifications. Care Connect also populates each virtual nurse's work list and provides direct care nurses with full transparency into the status of virtual work on different units. "Banyan Medical Solutions is the only organization in the country with a tool like this, which eliminates the need for direct-care staff to call virtual nurses to notify them of virtual work needs." Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. "This increases the efficiency of our virtual nursing model, and provides assurance that virtual nurses are handling the care tasks delegated to them. As charge nurses and nurse managers manage throughput, they can also see that the virtual work needed to move patients through the system is occurring." The second key element for a virtual nursing care model is access to a critical mass of highly experienced registered nurses. If an organization already has elevated turnover rates or increased turnover rates, it's not practical to transfer direct care nurses into virtual roles. That would further disrupt the stability of the direct care workforce, aggravating the very problem that virtual nursing is intended to solve. "Banyan Medical Solutions employs hundreds of highly experienced registered nurses that assume virtual roles on behalf of our clients 24/7," Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. "Direct care nurses need help and support 24 hours a day. Virtual nursing isn't a part-time solution to a part-time problem. It requires 24/7 access to qualified and competent registered nurses that can consistently provide virtual care." Change management is the third component of a successful virtual nursing program. This is extremely important for sustaining virtual nursing over the long term, but it's often overlooked. Virtual nursing requires direct-care nurses to function in different ways and become comfortable with working in a team environment. It can be difficult for nurses to shift gears if they have practiced for decades in one model of care, such as primary or total patient care. "When we partner with clients, we invest heavily in a comprehensive change management strategy," Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. "This helps staff at all levels understand and support the model, as well as its benefits for them personally. Skill building and coaching for direct care staff is essential." Driving sustainability with organizational preparedness at all levels When an organization commits to virtual nursing, the whole organization must be ready and committed, and understand how to make the model sustainable over the long term. "Unfortunately, many technology firms provide little assistance with care model change, let alone ensuring that registered nurses at all levels become comfortable with the virtual nursing model that their technology is intended to facilitate," Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. When Banyan Medical Solutions partners with a healthcare organization to design and implement a virtual nursing model, it works with key stakeholders at all levels. Initially, Banyan partners with the executive team to establish clear goals and objectives, as well as an understanding of what will be required to move to a new model of care. Banyan also works closely with unit managers to develop comprehensive work plans that reflect the needs of the unit. "While an organization is transitioning to a virtual nursing model, units can't close down," Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. "We help to create work plans that support care model changes and work in sync with the operational challenges that units face." Providing managers with the skill building and training needed to drive care model innovation is equally important. Chief nursing officers can't achieve the desired outcomes from virtual nursing unless nurse managers at the operating level possess the necessary skills to lead care model change. Over time, ongoing coaching is also essential, because virtual nursing isn't a "one and done" conversation. Staff need periodic reassurance even after a virtual nursing model is deployed. "One of Banyan Medical Solutions' key differentiators is that we work with clients over the long term. We are partners from the day the contract is signed," Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer said. "Once organizations become comfortable with the virtual nursing model, they often identify new areas that could be virtualized. We love to be thought partners with clients to determine what else can be virtual in the acute care space and beyond." Best practices for deploying a virtual nursing care model Ms. Boston-Fleischhauer acknowledged it tends to be easier to embrace virtual nursing as a care support to a legacy model than it is to adopt virtual nursing as a care model innovation. As a result, organizations must ask a key question: How do they define virtual nursing? This decision must be made at the executive level. Once leadership teams agree on the goals and objectives for a virtual nursing program, they need to analyze the return on investment. Banyan Medical Solutions partners with clients on this work and helps to determine what is required for measuring and monitoring the model's impact. "We determine on a monthly basis where organizations are with the return on investment. We're proud of our data-driven approach to evaluating the productivity of the model and outcomes," Ms. Boston- Fleischhauer said. "Our disciplined approach to tracking and trending agreed-upon metrics provides executive teams with real-time data to confirm positive model trends as well as identify and implement course corrections if data suggests the need for adjustment." Banyan Medical Solutions, the first company in the U.S. to introduce virtual nursing to the industry, started implementing best-practice virtual nursing solutions long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging its deep experience in this space, the company has developed a playbook for implementing, scaling, sustaining and maximizing the results from a virtual nursing care model. "A true integration of technology, consulting, change management, staffing and ongoing support sets us apart from competitors who merely sell technology," Mr. Buda said. "Our goal is clear: Demonstrate value realization to ensure our clients achieve measurable outcomes and expand their capabilities seamlessly. This proven, turn-key process provides clientele the ability to scale. Our experience and dedication enable us to handle the details, so our clients can focus on what matters most — patient care." Banyan Medical Solutions provides a virtual nursing care model that integrates with bedside teams and patients, addressing staffing challenges and enhancing care quality. Their platform supports real-time communication, data sharing, and patient monitoring, improving workflow efficiency, patient outcomes, and return on investment. As the healthcare industry's most experienced and robust virtual nursing provider, Banyan Medical Solutions has been a transformative partner for healthcare facilities across the country. To learn more about how Banyan can provide enterprise-wide support for your hospital, visit banyanmed.com, or call 866-264-0469 for more information.