Kimberly White
By: Kimberly White, VP of Client Success
On the surface, the ROI for a virtual sitter program in a hospital appears straightforward. Shifting a cohort of patients receiving 1:1 in-person sitting to virtual sitting — where one sitter can monitor multiple patients simultaneously through a real-time A/V stream — can save on labor costs. A quick back-of-the-envelope exercise reveals that moving 10 patients (all of whom can be appropriately monitored remotely, of course) from 1:1 sitter to the virtual sitter program can lead to a labor savings of ~90%.
And that’s before factoring in any savings from a reduction in falls — where research has shown that an unassisted fall with a break can cost ~$62,000 per event — not to mention the potential resulting legal action.
However, realizing ROI from implementing a virtual sitter program doesn’t happen overnight, nor is virtual sitter a “set-it-and-forget-it” program. It is an intentional organizational shift to embed a technology-enabled program into a hospital’s safety and quality culture. As the nation’s largest independent provider of acute virtual care services, Hicuity Health has helped many organizations make that shift. Based on our decades of experience, we’ve identified four key drivers of hospital virtual sitter program ROI:
1. Clear ownership
2. Active utilization
3. Strong and sustained engagement
4. Data-driven decision making
Key Driver #1: Clear Ownership
Strategic, top-down leadership and day-to-day ownership are both essential for an effective hospital virtual sitter program. Some of the best programs have someone at the leadership level who utilizes available data to monitor results and usage, drives adoption, and ensures accountability for performance. They also have an individual at the bedside appointed to own shift-to-shift operations, including coordination between in-person and virtual sitter resources, overseeing technology deployment and readiness, and providing educational resources for staff, patients, and family members.
Key Driver #2: Active Utilization
It may seem obvious, but a virtual sitter program must be highly utilized to deliver ROI — and the details matter. Use of the program should be as frictionless as possible. Establishing a streamlined workflow, supplying process training upon hire and refresher education for bedside team members, empowering nurses to admit patients who meet virtual sitter criteria without requiring a provider order, and ensuring that the necessary technology is easily accessible and fully functional are common features of hospital virtual sitter programs with healthy utilization.
Key Driver #3: Strong and Sustained Engagement
Collaboration between virtual and bedside teams represents two sides of the same engagement coin. The bedside team must be confident that any virtual sitter is actively monitoring their patients and ready to jump in at first indication of a potential safety event. The virtual team must be confident that the bedside will respond promptly to escalations. Strategies to enhance engagement include, but are not limited to, fostering open lines of communication, strengthening coordination between teams, regularly hearing and addressing concerns, and celebrating wins together.
Key Driver #4: Data-Driven Decision Making
At the heart of a well-utilized virtual sitter program with strong engagement is someone poring over the bounty of data derived by the initiative. Some data points are readily apparent for collection and examination — fall and elopement rates, patient volume, utilization, etc. Others are not. For example, Hicuity advocates for and supports a cohesive approach to data collection across all applications of hospital patient sitting — virtual, in-person, and mental/behavioral health.
Regardless, data collection and reporting should be considered at the earliest stages of the program. Consider the goals you’re trying to meet, how you would prioritize them, and how you would measure them if you needed to defend the program in front of your board.
Maximize Impact with an Experienced Acute Virtual Care Provider
Virtual sitter programs earn ROI through consistent practice, strategic alignment, and data-informed optimization. The hospitals that achieve the most from their investments do more than adopt virtual sitter programs — they exhibit clear ownership, active utilization, strong and sustained engagement, and data-driven decision making. These aspects form the backbone of a thriving program that prioritizes patient safety, supports the work of bedside staff, and delivers measurable financial returns.
Ready to maximize the impact of your virtual sitter program? Get in touch with Hicuity Health to learn how we can help.
