01: Patient complexity is on the rise:
Patient complexity started increasing before COVID-19 and the pandemic accelerated the problem.
A key driving factor is the rise of older patients: The world population over the age of 60 is expected to double between 2015 and 2050, which is
already significantly increasing the number of patients with multiple co-morbidities.[1]
These
more complex patients increase the need for early detection of deterioration in medical-surgical wards—which is difficult to achieve with traditional spot checking models and persistent staff
shortages.
World population
over 60 will nearly double between 2015 and 2050.[1]
12%
22%
2015
2050
Optimizing lower-acuity units
As patient complexity increases, workforce shortages and budget constraints continue to pose challenges for hospital leaders.
Medical-surgical units face 3 rising challenges
02: Patient complications and delayed detection strain hospital resources: Patient deterioration and failure-to-rescue (FTR) events have significant ripple effects. Beyond a devastating effect on patients and their families, delayed detection of deterioration:
increases unplanned ICU admissions;
slows patient throughput; and
exacerbates clinician burnout.
56%
56% of nurses reported burnout in 2023 [2]
03: Rapid response teams (RRTs) are effective—but require optimization: RRTs are well-positioned to intervene and support deteriorating patients—but only if they are appropriately activated. Continuous monitoring can not only alert RRTs to patients who require intervention, but also reduce false alarms and excess activation.
Continuous monitoring addresses these key challenges
[5]
01: Might help clinicians improve patient care
By detecting deterioration events earlier than spot checks, clinicians can deliver the appropriate level of care more easily—reducing FTR and code blue events and escalating patients who need ICU care more quickly.[4]
97% of deterioration events were detected and treated with Continuous Monitoring
97%
*Traditional vital sign monitoring occurs with spot checks every 4-8 hours. These spot checks often don’t include respiratory rate, which can be a key early predictor of clinical deterioration.[6]
02: Enhancing the clinician experience
Cognitive and emotional burdens add extra stress to an already short-staffed workforce—but continuous monitoring has an opportunity to improve clinicians’ day-to-day experience.
[8]
[7]
90%
74%
90% of nurses feel more assured when their patients are monitored on PortraitTM Mobile.
74% of nurses reported that data from continuous monitoring devices enhanced decision making. [8]
A
B
C
D
Extra reassurance
– Nurses have reported higher levels of assurance with continuous monitoring, knowing that patient
outcomes do not rely on spot checks.[7]
Reduced alarm fatigue
– Because the alarm limits are configurable, the number of alarms can be reduced, which leads to more actionable alarms.[9]
More time for patient care
– Fewer non-actionable alerts and reduced cognitive burden free up clinicians to spend personalized
time with patients—one of the more fulfilling parts of their roles.[9]
Lower emotional burden
– Fewer FTR events prevents the emotional burden of adverse outcomes.[4]
03: Driving economic advantages
Reducing clinician burnout and turnover creates economic advantages for hospitals—as does avoiding adverse events, optimizing RRT use, and more efficient escalation.
$2.3M
[10]
Reducing ICU transfer rates to save 367.11 days in a 2-year period, generated >2.3M in cost savings.
Continuous monitoring has been shown to reduce RRT activations from 4.3% to 3.1%, a 27.9% reduction.[11]
27.9%
More efficient escalation means improved patient throughput, freeing up beds where they are needed and distributing resources more effectively.
References:
[1] World Health Organization Fact Sheet on Ageing and Health. WHO, 2018.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health.
[2] American Nurses Foundation’s
Pulse on the Nation’s Nurses Survey, 2023
https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus/what-you-need-to-know/survey-4/
[3]
GEHC Clinical View, Living longer and the rise in patient complexity
https://clinicalview.gehealthcare.com/article/living-longer-and-rise-patient-complexity
[4] Reducing
ICU utilization, length of stay, and cost by optimizing the clinical use of continuous monitoring system
technology in the hospital, American Journal of Medicine P337-341.E1 March 2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934321006987
[5,8] Continuous Physiological
Monitoring Improves Patient Outcomes, 2021, American Journal of Nursing,
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33755624/
[6] Churpek MM, Yuen TC, Winslow C, Robicsek AA, Meltzer DO,
Gibbons RD, Edelson DP: Multicenter development and validation of a risk stratification tool for ward
patients. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2014, 190(6):649-65
[7] Based on a
2021 evaluation clinical study performed at a London hospital in the UK. Twenty-seven nurses from the
hospital ward settings used the Portrait Mobile solution with 33 patients. Feedback was collected through a
structured questionnaire. Refer to the Evaluation Clinical Study Of The Ambulatory Monitoring Solution (AMS)
ME Study Report (DOC2599845) for details.
[8] Portrait Mobile, Clinician feedback from a recent
study, GE HealthCare, https://www.gehealthcare.com/products/patient-monitoring/portrait-mobile
[9] GE
HealthCare announces study results demonstrating Portrait Mobile continuous monitoring solution performance
with patients and care teams in the ward, GE
HealthCare https://www.gehealthcare.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/ge-healthcare-announces-study-results-demonstrating-portrait-mobile-continuous-monitoring-solution-performance-with-patients-and-care-teams-in-the-ward
[10]
Effect of continuous wireless vital sign monitoring on unplanned ICU admissions and rapid response team
calls: a before-and-after study, British Journal of Anesthesiology,
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35282866/
[11] Effect of continuous wireless vital sign monitoring on
unplanned ICU admissions and rapid response team calls: a before-and-after study, British Journal of
Anesthesiology, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35282866/