The rise of virtual care has been one of the most transformative shifts in modern healthcare. From virtual nursing and remote patient monitoring to teleconsults and ambient documentation, virtual technologies have the potential to drive dramatic improvements in care quality, clinician satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
But here’s the reality: technology alone isn’t enough. Far too often, virtual care programs remain fragmented, owned by one department or championed by a single leader. Without cross-functional integration, even the most promising innovations risk stalling out.
Having spent my career on both the health system and health tech sides of the table, I’ve seen the difference true integration can make. When clinical, IT, and operational leaders come together around shared goals, virtual care becomes more than a technology project—it becomes a catalyst for enterprise-wide transformation.
Why Integration Matters
Virtual care touches nearly every part of the health system. Nurses rely on it to monitor patients from afar. IT teams are responsible for system architecture, connectivity, and data security. Operations leaders think about staffing models, workflows, and ROI.
If these functions aren’t aligned, virtual care efforts can become duplicative, disconnected, or difficult to scale. But when you bridge the silos, you create synergy—and that synergy is where the transformation can occur.
Clinical Buy-In: From Tool to Partner
Clinicians are often asked to adopt new tools, but adoption suffers when those tools aren’t co-designed with their input. To successfully scale virtual care, clinical leaders must be at the table from the very beginning, not just as end users but as co-creators.
Virtual care solutions should reflect the realities of clinical workflows. That means aligning on use cases, establishing shared protocols, and ensuring that technology enhances (rather than disrupts) the patient-provider relationship.
IT Alignment: Building the Digital Backbone
Every successful virtual care program rests on a stable, secure, and scalable infrastructure. IT teams are tasked with ensuring interoperability, safeguarding data privacy, and enabling real-time access to information.
But beyond the technical plumbing, IT must also serve as a strategic partner. That means aligning virtual care investments with the broader digital roadmap, proactively identifying integration challenges, and supporting clinicians through implementation and optimization.
Operational Collaboration: Designing for Efficiency and Scale
Virtual care doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it has to function within the broader ecosystem of hospital operations. From staffing models and communication strategies, to scheduling and space utilization, operational leaders play a critical role in ensuring virtual programs run smoothly.
By working in tandem with clinical and IT teams, operations leaders can help create standardized workflows, identify performance metrics, and ensure that virtual care scales sustainably across departments and sites.
Making Integration Real
Breaking down silos isn’t easy. It requires intentional governance structures, clear communication channels, and a commitment to shared success.
Some steps to get started:
- Create a cross-functional virtual care steering committee. Ensure that all stakeholders—clinical, IT, operational, and executive—are represented.
- Align on metrics that matter. Define success across domains: clinical outcomes, user satisfaction, system performance, and financial impact.
- Pilot with purpose. Use pilots not just to test technology, but to refine workflows and strengthen collaboration. Begin with the end in mind, successful scaling across the organization.
- Celebrate and scale. Share early wins broadly and use them to build momentum for wider adoption.
Looking Ahead
Virtual care isn’t just a new channel for delivering care. It’s a strategic lever for reimagining how we work together across roles, departments, and disciplines to improve quality, allow our clinicians to work efficiently and improve patient experience.
By breaking down silos and integrating virtual care across clinical, IT, and operational domains, we can unlock its full potential—not just as a set of tools, but as a driver of transformation, connection, and better care for everyone we serve.
