University Hospitals has announced the launch of its Connected Care Team initiative, powered by Vitalchat’s AI-based audio and video platform, at UH Lake West in the US.

The initiative follows a pilot across six units and five hospitals that demonstrated benefits for caregivers and patients, establishing a model for whole-hospital virtual nursing adoption.

University Hospitals Veale Healthcare Transformation Institute programme lead Brian Nelson said: “The success of phase one gave us the confidence to expand to a whole-hospital launch. This isn’t just about technology, it’s about supporting every patient in every room with high-quality care and easing the burden on our caregivers.”

The Connected Care Team extends nurses' reach via secure, high-definition video and two-way communication, enabling virtual nurses to assist their bedside colleagues with urgent interventions, monitoring, discharges, admissions, and patient education.

They also help to optimise capacity so that bedside clinicians can devote more time to hands-on care and building patient relationships.

In phase one, University Hospitals assigned a single remote nurse to each unit working from a central command centre.

Early results demonstrated higher patient experience and caregiver engagement scores, compared to similar units, as well as more support for fall prevention, pain assessments, admissions and discharges. Three clinical studies have also begun during phase one.

With the launch of the Connected Care Team initiative at UH Lake West, virtual nursing support is now available in every inpatient unit.

University Hospitals intends to pilot round‑the‑clock operations, introduce virtual patient observation, and expand use cases into the emergency department and the operating room.

Vitalchat CEO Mike Raymer said: “Vitalchat is proud to collaborate with University Hospitals as they set a new national standard for virtual nursing. UH is demonstrating how intelligent technology can transform care by supporting caregivers, improving outcomes, and creating lasting value for health systems.”