New service brings specialty expertise to hospitalized patients, with initial availability in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., November 11th, 2026 – When a hospitalized patient needs specialty expertise that is not readily available locally, care teams can face an important decision: Can the patient continue to receive appropriate care locally, or is a transfer necessary?
Avel eCare is introducing Inpatient Specialty Care, a new service designed to give hospital teams additional access to specialty expertise for patients already receiving inpatient care. The service will initially be available to hospitals in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas.
Through scheduled virtual consultations, board-certified specialty physicians collaborate with local care teams on clinical recommendations, treatment planning, discharge considerations and transfer decisions. Initial consultations are available the same or next business day, with specialists documenting directly in the hospital’s electronic medical record.
The addition represents another expansion of Avel’s Virtual Health System, providing hospitals with a way to bring additional clinical expertise into existing care teams without requiring every specialty to be staffed locally.
“We don’t want to start by assuming what a hospital needs. We want to understand what its care teams are experiencing,” said Mandy Bell, SVP of Product Innovation. “Which patients are being transferred because specialty expertise isn’t available? Where are the most significant coverage gaps? What is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit or maintain? Inpatient Specialty Care gives us another way to partner with hospitals around those challenges.”
Specialty Expertise Where Patients Are Already Receiving Care
Inpatient Specialty Care is designed for hospitals that have limited access to on-site specialists, need additional expertise for complex inpatient cases or face challenges recruiting and maintaining specialty coverage.
The service can help hospitals:
- Keep appropriate patients local by accessing specialty expertise before determining whether transfer is necessary.
- Support local care teams with additional expertise for complex clinical decisions, treatment planning and discharge.
- Expand access without expanding staff by adding specialty support without building and maintaining a full-time specialty program.
Infectious Disease, Psychiatry, and Cardiology consultations are currently available, with Pulmonology and Non-acute Neurology planned as future specialties.
“The goal isn’t to keep every patient local,” said Dr. Kelly Rhone, Chief Medical Officer. “The goal is to make additional expertise available to the local care team so clinicians can make informed decisions about the right care setting for each patient.”
An Extension of Avel’s Virtual Health System
Inpatient Specialty Care is part of Avel’s broader Virtual Health System and can work alongside existing Avel services, including Emergency, Hospitalist and Critical Care. The service is designed for scheduled, non-emergent inpatient specialty consultations during weekday business hours.
Initial availability will focus on hospitals in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. Hospitals interested in learning more about Inpatient Specialty Care and discussing their current specialty access needs can visit Inpatient Specialty Care For Hospitals – Avel eCare or contact [email protected].