INSIGHT. Healthcare systems worldwide are facing significant challenges. An ageing population, growing healthcare needs, and staff shortages are pressuring healthcare providers to find new, more accessible and cost-effective care models. One solution gaining increasing attention is virtual wards.
The concept is based on allowing patients with lower care needs, such as patients with infectious diseases and patients in the aftercare phase, to be monitered remotely at home instead of occupying a traditional hospital bed. Through digital sensors, self-sampling, and online healthcare contacts, medical staff can monitor patients’ conditions in real time.
Virtual wards offer several advantages. They can free up hospital beds, with approximately 11 percent of hospital admissions being manageable virtually, and they increase patient satisfaction – 90 percent of patients report being satisfied with virtual care. When patients can receive care at home, they typically sleep better and can eat their own food, while the risk of hospital-acquired infections decreases. It is also cost-effective, with approximately 650 USD lower costs per episode of care.
In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has successfully established virtual wards. By the end of 2023, NHS had 10,000 virtual beds, equivalent to freeing up 7,500 physical beds and reducing occupancy rates to an optimal level of 91 percent. Surveys also show that over 95 percent of doctors who have used virtual care solutions are satisfied with working this way.
As pressure on healthcare continues to increase, we expect virtual wards to become an increasingly important complement to traditional healthcare.
