When Diane Bartos, Administrative Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Saratoga Hospital (Saratoga Springs, New York, USA), conducted research on patient events, she identified a need for more support for nursing staff as they dealt with events, including an opportunity to use technology to reduce a patient’s likelihood of returning to the ICU. To address that need, Saratoga Hospital teamed with Philips to implement a solution that included monitors and Philips IntelliVue Guardian Software for early detection of patient deterioration.
Watch this video to learn more about how Saratoga Hospital uses technology to empower nurses.
Since implementing Philips patient monitoring solution with automated Early Warning Scoring (EWS) in 2015, Saratoga Hospital has reduced patient transfers to the ICU by 63% and eliminated patient codes within its 20-bed orthopedic unit, which dropped from three or four codes per year to zero. Not only did the solution enhance workflow, but it also empowered nurses to make more confident care decisions and intervene quicker.
“By leveraging the Philips IntelliVue Guardian Solution and Early Warning Scoring, clinicians were able to identify and detect problematic changes in patients’ vital sign information hours before a patient deteriorated and required transfer back to the ICU,” Bartos explains.
Philips IntelliVue Guardian Software automatically calculates EWS and alerts clinicians of subtle signs of deterioration in a patient’s condition. The scroes are sent to the HER via Philips IntelliBrige Enterprise, eliminating manual entry and associated risk of error and ensuring that EHR records are timely and accurate.
The benefits of the IntelliVue Guardian Solution include:
[IntelliVue Guardian Software] looks at key vital signs and it gives a point score for each vital sign that's abnormal with a total point score. It's intuitive, it tells nurses what is going on and helps them to make a confident decision.
Identifying patients at risk