Knoxville Hospital and Clinics has reached an agreement with a health care company, to provide hospitalist services to patients there around the clock.

A hospitalist is a physician whose main role is the care of patients while they are in the hospital; their role is to respond directly to a patient’s immediate needs, and coordinate long-term care with their primary physician or other physicians involved in their treatment.

Avera eCARE will now share this role with Knoxville Hospital and Clinics in-house hospitalist staff; KHC has had its own team of physicians who serve as hospitalists, and will continue to do so during the day.

Avera eCARE will have this service available for the overnight hours; clinical staff can connect via face-to-face video technology with experienced hospitalists off-site, and get instruction on how to care for a particular patient.

The video system is secure, and can be easily transferred from room to room as needed. Daytime physicians will remain on call, to come in and assist when necessary.