UCHealth's virtual health center: How Colorado's largest health system creates and integrates technology into patient care.
expert_opinion · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38992097.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41746-024-01184-8 and PMC identifier 11239912.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In the face of formidable healthcare challenges, such as staffing shortages and rising costs, technology has emerged as a crucial ally in enhancing patient care. UCHealth, Colorado’s largest health system, has pioneered the integration of technology into patient care through its Virtual Health Center (VHC). In this Comment, we explore UCHealth’s journey in creating a centralized hub that harnesses innovative digital health solutions to address patient care needs across its 12 hospitals, spanning over 600,000 emergency department visits and nearly 150,000 inpatient and observation encounters annually. The VHC has proven to be a transformative force, providing high-quality care at scale, reducing staff burden, and establishing new career pathways in virtual health. The transformation process involved multiple steps: (a) identifying a need, (b) vetting within health system solutions, (c) searching for industry solutions, and scrutinizing these through meetings with our innovations center, (d) piloting the solution, and (e) sustaining the solution by integrating them within the electronic health record (EHR).