JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals implemented inpatient telemedicine measures to ensure operational readiness and worker safety in preparation for a possible outbreak. Sustainability of inpatient telemedicine remains to be addressed

Objective:

This study evaluated the use of a rapidly deployed inpatient telemedicine workflow at a large academic medical center.

Methods:

In early 2020, video conferencing software was installed on patient bedside iPads at two academic medical center teaching hospitals. An internal website allowed providers to initiate video calls with patients in any patient room with an activated iPad. Patients were encouraged to utilize this technology to connect with loved ones via native apps or video conferencing software. We tracked usage of this technology by monitoring traffic to the internal website beginning in May 2020.

Results:

Between July 22, 2020 and January 24, 2021, the “IP Video Visits” website recorded 125 events, including 69 meetings initiated by patients, 10 meetings initiated by providers, and 36 emails, including meeting links sent by patients. The total number of unique active users was 815.

Conclusions:

There was a low level of adoption of inpatient telehealth and virtual patient visitations by providers and patients, respectively. With sufficient availability of PPE, providers did not find a frequent need to use the bedside tablet technology for inpatient telehealth, despite a high census of COVID-19 patients. Patients in isolation appeared to prefer to use their personal smart devices to connect with loved ones.