Hospital Support

Hospital Support programs are crucial to the viability and prosperity of our South Carolina hospitals. Through partnerships with urban SC hospitals, our rural community hospitals can provide local patients with high-quality specialty care through telehealth. This statewide collaboration allows patients to remain close to home for care, reducing barriers and increasing access. 

Example Services

• Tele-ICU
• Hospitalist Rounding
• Neonatal Nurseries Rounding
• Inpatient Specialty Tele-Consultations including:
  •  Stroke and Neurology
  • Infectious Disease
  • Psychiatry
  • Palliative Care
  • Cardiology
  • Pulmonology

Both Prisma Health and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) launched virtual nursing programs in 2023 to provide an extra layer of expert clinical care and workforce support to their rural hospitals. The programs partner the on-site care team with experienced virtual nurses who assist with patient admissions, monitoring, discharging, and other helpful duties.   

MUSC’s program launched at MUSC’s Catawba division hospitals in Lancaster and Chester in October and saw 521 unique patients throughout the remainder of the year. The team anticipates expansion to MUSC’s remaining hospitals during the upcoming year.  

Prisma’s program, Virtual Care Partners (VCP), launched in March at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter and ended 2023 with over 1,500 encounters. With the program’s success, Prisma plans to expand to other locations within its network.  Hear how the staff at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital benefit from virtual nursing.

The SC Department of Mental Health’s (SCDMH) Emergency Department Telepsychiatry Program provides mental health care 18 hours per day, 365 days per year to 27 partnering hospitals across the state. The program reduces wait times for psychiatric consultations, providing patients with treatment sooner and discharging them from the ER in a timely manner. In 2023, the program provided over 6,750 telepsychiatry consultations. Learn more about this crucial program.

• Nearly 10,900 Tele-Stroke consults in 25 SC counties provided by SCTA partners in 2023 
• 73 SCTA supported hospitals and freestanding emergency departments across 36 counties in SC