Clinical Team Researching the Impact of the EarlySense System Wins 'Best Novel Idea' Prize at the Rapid Response Systems and Medical Emergency Teams 2013 8th International Conference

WALTHAM, Massachusetts, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

EarlySense, the market leader in Proactive Patient Care Solutions™, announced today that the prize for 'Best Novel Idea' at the 8^th Annual Rapid Response Systems and Medical Emergency Teams International Conference, hosted this year in the UK by the Royal College of Physicians, was awarded to a clinical research team studying the impact of the EarlySense contact-free patient monitoring system at California Hospital in Los Angeles. The prize was awarded for the poster Contact-Free Under the Mattress Monitoring for Early Recognition of End-of-Life in Med/Surg Units to Jamie Terrence, Director of Risk Management Services at California Hospital Medical Center and the author of the book 'To Err is Common' on the challenges of achieving excellence in patient care. Ms. Terrence also presented a second poster titled Contact-Free Under the Mattress for Early Recognition of and Response to Clinical Deterioration in Medical/Surgical Units.

The award winning poster was co-authored by Ms. Terrence, Dr. Zvika Shinar, PhD, Algorithms & DSP Group Leader at EarlySense, Mr. Tal Klap MSc, DSP Team Leader at EarlySense and Dr. Harvey Brown, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the principal investigator of the EarlySense System clinical studies at California Hospital. The second poster was authored by Ms. Terrence and Dr. Brown.

"On behalf of the clinical team, I would like to thank the conference committee and the Royal College of Physicians for such a prestigious acknowledgement of the important work we are doing to increase the level of patient safety and care using the latest in patient monitoring technology. What we know from experience as well as formally from the data is that the EarlySense system is assisting us to respond to patient deterioration and potential adverse events earlier, rather than later, in the process of care and as a result achieve better outcomes for the patient, their family members, and our staff," said Ms. Terrence.

In the study cited in both posters, EarlySense monitors were implemented in a 33-bed medical-surgical unit. Performance was compared between a baseline 9-month period and an intervention 9-month period as well as against a different 'sister' unit. During intervention more than 2300 patients were monitored by the EarlySense system and more than 7000 patients records were viewed in all study arms.

For the award winning poster, an automated algorithm for end-of-life detection was tested on an additional data set of more than 4000 records. The automated detection indicator for end-of-life was tested and resulted in 58% sensitivity and 99% specificity.

Dr. Brown said, "In the case of the end-of-life, 'do not attempt resuscitation' patients noted in the award winning poster, the EarlySense system enabled enhanced monitoring of these patients without the inconvenience and potential discomfort of being hooked up and wired. It also allowed the nurses to closely follow and manage comfort measures for these patients and in recognizing unexpected events."

Dr. Brown continued, "In the second study with medical/surgical patients, use of the EarlySense system resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of rapid response team (RRT) calls and a higher survival rate in code-blue events. In addition, identification of the early warning signs of deterioration provided by the EarlySense system allowed for early intervention by Rapid Response or Code Blue Teams, which resulted in fewer Code Blue events and a smaller percentage of those experiencing a Code Blue having to be transferred to a higher level of care. This enhances our previous conclusions that with a continuous monitoring solution we can care for more of our patients on medical/surgical floors, and keep them safer with better outcomes."

In the second poster, a significant decrease in RRT calls from 10.5 to 5.6 per 1000 patients was demonstrated after intervention. Though the number of code blue events did not change significantly, the outcomes improved with intervention. The percentage of patients that stayed in the unit, after coding, increased from 18.8% to 55.6%. Transfers to the ICU and death decreased during intervention by a factor of 3.38 and 1.31 respectively.

"The need for continuous monitoring of vital signs, to detect early warning signs of deteriorating patients, was very clear for all participants in the conference. I am happy and proud they recognized the research on the EarlySense technology as a novel solution that allows nurses and physicians to do exactly that," said Dr. Shinar.

About EarlySense

EarlySense has brought to market an innovative technology designed to advance proactive patient care and enable clinicians to achieve better patient outcomes, by assisting in preventing adverse events from occurring through their early identification, in the form of falls, pressure ulcers and/or patient deterioration. The company's flagship product, the EarlySense System, is a continuous, contact-free, patient safety monitoring solution that monitors and documents a patient's vital signs and movement using a sensor that is placed underneath a bed mattress. There are no leads or cuffs to connect to the patient who has complete freedom of movement and is not burdened by any cumbersome attachments. The system was initially designed to monitor non-ICU 'lower risk' patients on medical surgical floors who are usually monitored by nursing staff approximately once every four hours. The system is currently installed at hospitals and rehabilitation centers in the USA and Europe. It is also commercially available in Canada. Hospital administrators report that patients, their families and staff feel more comfortable knowing the system is in place. EarlySense Inc. is headquartered in Waltham, MA. Investors include: JK&B, Pitango Venture Capital, Etgar Challenge Fund, ProSeed VC Fund (TASE: PRSD), Docor International Management, Noaber, and Bridge Investment Fund, and Peter Soderberg, managing partner of Worthy Ventures Resources, LLC and former president and CEO of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC). For additional information, please visit http://www.earlysense.com.

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SOURCE EarlySense