Hiring for the Future: Cross Country Healthcare Announces Innovative Virtual Patient Observation Partnership

Cross Country Healthcare partners with Wachter Healthcare Solutions to support patient care efforts using VPO technology

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cross Country Healthcare, Inc., (NASDAQ: CCRN), a leading provider of advisory and workforce solutions including contingent staffing, permanent placement and other consultative services for healthcare clients, is partnering with Wachter Healthcare Solutions to hire patient observation teams and implement innovative virtual patient observation (VPO) technology.

Wachter Healthcare Solutions designs and installs a powerful remote patient observation and patient safety solution known as NOVA (Nursing Observation and Virtual Assistant). NOVA observation technicians monitor patients and can interact via audio and video communications, including translation into the patient’s native language.

Through the use of contingent labor provided by Cross Country Healthcare and NOVA, the organizations provide a powerful end-to-end remote patient observation technology solution that hospitals can use to build or enhance their fall prevention programs without the high costs of traditional 1:1 hospital sitter solution.

“Part of Cross Country Healthcare’s core mission is to seek out and implement technology that helps our clients improve both patient outcomes and cost efficiency,” says Kevin C. Clark, co-founder and CEO of Cross Country Healthcare. “With recent reports indicating that individual acute care hospitals in the U.S. spend significant dollars annually on sitters, this partnership profusely achieves both of those objectives.”

“With Wachter Healthcare Solutions and CCH joining forces, the resulting benefits for improving staffing issues and patient care are unstoppable. We can now provide a comprehensive solution to healthcare facilities that even further simplifies implementation,” Ashley Kuruvilla, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, NOVA Business Development Manager and Clinical Support Specialist said.

NOVA helps enhance patient safety while decreasing costs of a 1:1 hospital sitter program. This innovative partnership combines with Cross Country Healthcare to supply and place observation technician candidates in healthcare facilities. With NOVA, a single observation technician can monitor up to 12 patients from a secure location. Patients can come from various hospital departments, or from even multiple buildings or campuses.

About Cross Country Healthcare

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (CCH) is a leader in providing total talent management including strategic workforce solutions, contingent staffing, permanent placement and other consultative services for healthcare clients. Leveraging nearly 35 years of expertise and insight, CCH solves complex labor-related challenges for clients while providing high-quality outcomes and exceptional patient care. As a multi-year Best of Staffing® Award winner, CCH is committed to excellence in delivery of its services and was the first public company to earn The Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval® for Health Care Staffing Services Certification with Distinction.

Copies of this and other news releases as well as additional information about Cross Country Healthcare can be obtained online at www.crosscountryhealthcare.com. Shareholders and prospective investors can also register to automatically receive the Company's press releases, SEC filings and other notices by e-mail.

About Wachter Healthcare Solutions

Wachter Healthcare Solutions, a brand of Wachter, Inc., designs, installs, and maintains innovative solutions to improve safety, staff utilization, and patient satisfaction in healthcare facilities. Wachter Healthcare Solutions is HIPAA compliant, offers Joint Commission compliant anti-ligature and tamper-resistant solutions, and offers seamless EMR integration through Cloverleaf. Via partnership with Colossal, NOVA is also available to federal facilities including VA and IHS hospitals.