Virtual Pager Use and How to Assign Coverage

Assigning Virtual Pager Coverage Presentation-July 2008 (pdf)

Responsibility for assigning coverage:

It is the responsibility of the person assuming the primary responsibility for care of patients to ensure that the virtual pagers are used appropriately.  Interns arriving in the morning to receive signout from Night Float are responsible for assigning themselves to cover the virtual pager. When Night Float or another provider assumes the role of primary provider in a cross-covering capacity, they are responsible for changing the virtual pager coverage.  This is an important part of taking ownership of your role as a healthcare provider.

Communicating pager coverage with nursing and ancillary staff:

It is the responsibility of the person admitting a patient (or accepting a patient from another service as a transfer) to make sure that nursing and ancillary staff are aware of which virtual pager is assigned to that particular patient and if they are unfamiliar with the system, to educate them on how this works.  The proper use of virtual pagers can greatly improve and simplify the process of identifying the provider for any given patient to facilitate timely communication of information about your patients.

On admission, please enter an order in the patient’s chart that clearly states which virtual pager the nursing staff should call.  At VCUHS, this can be entered in Cerner as a “Notify Provider” order under nursing orders and order sentences can be found within the admission caresets.  At the VA, the order should be ordered as a free-text order for nursing staff that clearly identifies the virtual pager number and that this should be used 24 hours a day.  It may also be helpful to communicate this information directly to the ward secretary on admission so that they can write this number alongside the patient’s name on the whiteboard.

back to top

How to assign coverage:

FROM MCV:

1. From any MCV hospital computer, open the web browser to the VCUHS Intranet page and click on the Pager icon
2. Select the “Personal Profile” tab
3. At the Login Box, enter the Virtual Pager ID in both the “User ID” & “Password” fields and select the “Log In” button
4. Click the “Exception” tab to bring up the existing coverage
5. Click delete to remove the existing coverage
6. To establish your pager ID as the new coverage:
1. Make sure the Exception Type is “Coverage”
2. Enter the covering pager’s ID (your personal 4-digit pager number)
3. Click the save button
4. Click Logout
7. To assign yourself to additional virtual pagers if you are covering multiple providers, repeat steps 2 through 6

If computer system is not working or in emergencies,
call MCV telepage at 828-0951 for assistance

back to top

FROM THE VA:

1. From any VA hospital computer, open a web browser and use the following link to establish remote access: http:\\notes.mcvh-vcu.edu
2. Enter your MCV windows login username and password
3. Select “Hospital Paging Website” from the menu on the left
4. Follow the same instructions as above starting from Step 2

If computer system is not working or in emergencies,
call MCV telepage at 828-0951 for assistance

VA Virtual Pagers

Pager ID	Pager Name	Remark
9166	VA MED TEAM 1 INTERN A	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9167	VA MED TEAM 1 INTERN B	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9168	VA MED TEAM 1 INTERN C	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9169	VA MED TEAM 2 INTERN A	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9170	VA MED TEAM 2 INTERN B	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9171	VA MED TEAM 2 INTERN C	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9172	VA MED TEAM 3 INTERN A	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9173	VA MED TEAM 3 INTERN B	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9174	VA MED TEAM 3 INTERN C	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9175	VA MED TEAM 4 INTERN A	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9176	VA MED TEAM 4 INTERN B	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9177	VA MED TEAM 4 INTERN C	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED BY MED TEAM AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9178	VA CARDIOLOGY HOUSESTAFF A	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL
9179	VA CARDIOLOGY HOUSESTAFF B	VIRTUAL PAGER / USED AT McGUIRE VA HOSPITAL

back to top