EarlySense Monitored Vital Signs Useful for Readmission Risk Assessment

WALTHAM, Massachuetts, May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

EarlySense®, the market leader in contact-free monitoring solutions for use in the hospital, alternate care and home environments, announced today the results of new clinical data analysis showing significant predictive capabilities that a patient is likely to be a subject for hospital readmission based on the patient's clinical condition upon discharge.

The data was presented earlier this week in a poster presentation titled: "Determining Criteria to Identify Risk of Early Readmission in a Medical/Surgical Unit Using Continuous Monitoring" at the 11th International Medical Emergency Teams Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In the United States, roughly 2 million patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within a month (about one in five Medicare patients), costing Medicare $26 billion. Officials estimate $17 billion of that comes from potentially avoidable readmissions. Under the new Medicare fines, three-quarters of hospitals that are subject to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program are being penalized. These hospitals receive lower payments for every Medicare patient stay - not just for those patients who are readmitted. To address this significant concern hospitals need a preventative tool that can assist them in determining the patient condition prior to making the decision to discharge a particular patient. A part of this assessment should be an indication of the likelihood that this patient may be a higher risk of readmission.

A retrospective analysis that focused on readmissions within 12 days from discharge, which represent 50% of the 30 day readmissions, was performed. Analysis of data collected from two hospitals in the United States indicated significant ability to assess risk of readmission. The presented analysis shows that the system can predict over half of the readmission events with specificity of 78.1%. This predictive analysis uses EarlySense continuous monitoring system to analyze concerning trends in heart rate, respiratory rate and motion.

In 2014, Coffee Regional Medical Center in Douglas, Georgia implemented the EarlySense System on all of their general care beds with the goal of improving early detection of adverse events. This goal was exemplified in one particular case where a patient was admitted to the surgical care unit post gallbladder removal. During his recovery on the unit, the EarlySense system detected the patient had high heart and respiratory rates. Upon receiving these alerts the nursing staff determined the patient also had a high temperature. The nursing staff notified the surgeon and the patient was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for closer observation and monitoring. The EarlySense system was critical in assisting the nursing staff detect the early deterioration of this patient's condition and early transfer to a higher level of care prior to an adverse event.    

"Hospital readmissions are a key concern for hospitals administrators as they often lead to higher cost and potential fines. In many cases, the risk of readmission may be detected prior to discharge with the use of advanced analytical tools that allow us to be proactive and reduce that risk," said Sue Lane Hughes, Director Medical/OPO Unit, Coffee Regional Medical Center. "We have had several cases in which the EarlySense System's warning signs allowed us to detect patient deterioration and instability, which allowed us to take action, enhanced our discharge planning and as a result, reduce the risk of readmission back to our hospital."

About EarlySense 

EarlySense, the market leader in Contact-Free and Continuous patient monitoring, assists clinicians in early detection of patient deterioration and in identifying and preventing potential adverse events such as patient falls and pressure ulcers. The company's solutions monitor patients' heart and respiratory rate, as well as movement, with a unique sensor that is placed under the mattress. The system was designed to address safety challenges as well as failure to rescue of those patients who are usually monitored by nursing staff approximately once every four to eight hours in general care floors and alternate care facilities. EarlySense also offers OEM solutions for companies looking to expand their products by providing contact-free and continuous sensing capabilities. EarlySense's North American headquarters are in Waltham, MA, and the International headquarters are based in Israel. The EarlySense System is currently installed in hospitals and alternate care facilities in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit EarlySense.com.

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SOURCE EarlySense