Katie Adams
LG Electronics on Monday announced the first solution to come from its collaboration with Amwell. The product, called the Carepoint TV Kit 200L, is in beta testing but will soon be sold to hospitals to help clinicians virtually connect to patients’ rooms.
Powered by Amwell’s Converge platform, the product is aimed at helping clinicians more easily engage with patients amid healthcare’s workforce shortage crisis, according to Atul Singh, LG’s general manager for digital health.
LG’s new product provides new software and hardware that can be added to LG’s existing healthcare TVs. NYC Health + Hospitals is an example of a health system that already uses LG’s healthcare TVs for better patient engagement.
This software and hardware gives hospitals the ability to remotely admit, monitor and discharge patients.
“So clinicians can not only monitor, they can actually engage with the patient,” Singh said in a recent interview. “They can talk to them, provide guidance and treatment plans and so on.”
In a typical hospital wing, a nurse can be expected to monitor up to 16 patients. Instead of going room to room, the TV kit allows nurses to monitor their patients remotely and enables them to provide the appropriate intervention to patients who need it, Singh pointed out.
He also highlighted that the solution promises to save hospitals time during the admission and discharge process. Instead of waiting for a nurse or physician to come into a patient’s room to onboard them into the care protocol, clinicians can do this remotely, often relying on bedside staff to help fill in any gaps. When it comes time for discharge, a remote nurse or physician can provide oversight and advise bedside staff on discharge details, notifying them about all essential information they need to share with the patient.
“This allows not only clinicians and providers to monitor patients, but it also allows a pathway for them to engage with their family and with their nonclinical care providers,” Singh said.
With the product in beta testing, LG is measuring a few things. Since the TV kits were designed to combat the healthcare’s burnout crisis and workforce shortage, the company will closely track the kits’ ability to save hospitals time and resources. LG will also monitor the solution’s quality outcomes, looking at metrics such as its ability to reduce follow-up visits.
“One of the criteria that we are quite keen to follow up on is the idea that once the patient leaves the hospital, they’re discharged and they go to either a post-acute care facility or their home,” Singh said. “How long does it take for the patient to get back to normal or get back to the new normal that they are trying to achieve? And are we able to prevent hospital readmissions down the road by providing a more efficient way to engage with the patient, both in hospital and out of hospital?”
The TV kits will exit beta testing and become generally available “in a matter of weeks,” according to Singh.
Photo: LG Electronics