Patients in rural and remote communities across regional NSW are receiving safer care, thanks to Western NSW Local Health District’s Virtual Support remote monitoring service.
The Virtual Support service operates as a patient safety net, monitoring existing digital health data of patients at 35 rural hospitals and health facilities across western NSW in real-time. Using complex algorithms, the sophisticated remote monitoring software tracks routinely collected data points from rural and remote patients in emergency department and admitted in-patient beds, triggering alerts and generating early warning scores.
Raw data is monitored and assessed centrally by the District’s Western Virtual clinicians 24 hours a day, seven days per week with key information and concerns relayed directly to local frontline staff caring for patients.
This monitoring helps to identify clinical deterioration earlier and allows rural clinicians to provide timely and appropriate responses when needed. When hospital staff are alerted to patient deterioration through early detection, appropriate escalation and action is possible regardless of where the patient is located.
Since the introduction of the Virtual Support service, there has been a 12‑percentage‑point improvement in vital signs monitoring, helping staff identify when patients may need additional support and enabling timely care when required.