EarlySense Participating in AAMI's Campaign to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids

WALTHAM, Massachusetts, December 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

EarlySense®, the market leader in contact free monitoring solutions announced today its active involvement in the National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids. The AAMI Foundation, with the support of key industry partners including EarlySense, is launching a multiyear initiative in effort to increase awareness of the need to continuously monitor patients on opioids in an effort to recognize respiratory depression earlier and in an attempt to save lives.  

A significant portion of respiratory depression events occur in postoperative patients receiving opioid analgesics and sedative for pain. Opioid Induced respiratory depression continues to be a serious hospital acquired adverse event. However, continuous monitoring solutions, including central surveillance, may enhance clinician's ability to identify patients at risk earlier. The earlier a clinician can identify the risk of a patient, the lower the chance of respiratory depression which lessens the risk of complications including patient death.

The EarlySense System continuously monitors the two most important predictors: heart rate and respiratory rate, thus allowing opportunities for early intervention. The system uses a sensor placed under the bed's mattress which never comes into contact with the patient. 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 of sensors, electrodes and cuffs.

"We have seen numerous cases in which the EarlySense System has helped to detect Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression. Low respiratory rates detected by EarlySense ultimately led to timely detection and intervention to prevent respiratory depression caused by narcotic treatment," said Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, The Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and Deputy Director and VP of Quality Management at Sheba Medical Center. "There is a clear and immediate need to continuously monitor ventilation for patients on opioid treatment within the hospital. EarlySense is certainly emerging as a solution that can provide exactly that with mounting evidence relating to low frequency and accuracy of alerts as well as financial return on investment," continued Zimlichman.

"We are pleased to participate in this very important conference and coalition. Potentially adverse events which may become more pronounced with the use of Opioid based narcotics is clearly a major concern, and identified by  the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, The Joint Commission, Food and Drug Administration, ECRI and AAMI. We believe that monitoring these patients is critical, and monitoring them with the correct technology for the clinical care environment is equally important. Introducing new technology into Med-Surg areas, General Floors, or Rehab environments maybe required, however it must be suitable for the environment, and not introduce new challenges for caregivers, patients and their family members," stated Tim O'Malley, President of EarlySense Inc.

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 patient's 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 on general care floors as well as failure to rescue of those patients who are usually monitored by nursing staff approximately once every four to eight hours. EarlySense also offers OEM solutions for companies looking to expand their products by providing contact-free and continuous sensing capabilities.

EarlySense International headquarters is in Israel, and US headquarters is in Waltham, MA, the EarlySense System is currently installed in hospitals and rehabilitation centers in USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit EarlySense.com.

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SOURCE EarlySense