TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — TMC Health is bringing its virtual care program to TMC Rincon, allowing patients to connect instantly with nurses, pharmacists and other specialists through a bedside screen.
A $500,000 grant from the James M. Cox Foundation is funding the expansion, which will activate the technology across 44 inpatient beds on two floors at the Rincon hospital.
The virtual patient care model is already in use at TMC's main location on Grant in 36 beds. With the push of a button, patients can connect face-to-face with a healthcare professional directly from their hospital room television.
Stephanie Healy, Southern Arizona Market Vice President for Cox Communications, said the program is all about bringing together technology and healthcare.
"The goal is to improve outcomes for our patients really being able to leverage all the best of technology, all the best of patient care services, and everything TMC provides today and looking towards the future. So we're really excited to be a part of it at Cox," Healy said.
Josh Lee, Chief Information Officer at TMC Health, said the technology gives patients more time to discuss their care.
"So they get extra reinforcement about teaching about their procedures or let's say they have a question about their medications, or let's say we want to assess the effectiveness of any given treatment. Those nurses, the virtual nurses, are able to interact with the patients, so that means they can have more time where they get to talk about their care, more time to address their specific concerns," Lee said.
TMC says the program is not designed to replace in-person care. Instead, it is intended to give patients faster answers and more timely support with medication questions, discharge planning and specialty needs that can affect their recovery.
Care teams can also initiate the calls themselves.
"So they can dial into the patient room and they can say, hey, Mr. Jones, Ms. Jones, let's go over that new treatment that you're about to have. Let's go over the medications that are going to be new on discharge. Let's go over your wound care instructions when you're going to be going home. So, it's not just when the patient asks, it's also when we want to help them learn something that might be new or challenging," Lee explained.
Lee says the virtual care will bring more clinical expertise to patients at TMC Rincon without delays caused by moving providers between campuses.
"So, in other words, rather than sending a cardiologist to drive two hours each way to a remote site, that cardiologist, he or she or they can see a full panel of 20 patients and never have to leave one place," Lee said.
He said any nurse or specialist that the patient speaks to will be well informed of their health record.
"In fact, we have newer tools leveraging artificial intelligence that in a moment's notice can actually summarize everything that's in the voluminous chart and give you a quick snapshot right away — so you can be familiar when you walk in," Lee said.
The new technology is expected to be installed and ready within the next year.
According to TMC Health, the virtual patient care model will help serve an estimated 2,700 to 3,200 additional patients annually.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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