Harvard Research Reveals EarlySense Monitoring System Reduces Length of Stay in the Hospital and ICU

Updated on March 20, 2014

EarlySense®, the market leader in contact free monitoring solutions, today revealed significant results of a 7,643 patient outcome study conducted by researchers from Harvard University Medical School and published at The American Journal of Medicine. Results of the study concluded that continuous monitoring with the EarlySense System on a medical-surgical unit is associated with a significant decrease in patients’ total length of stay in the hospital, code blue events and intensive care unit (ICU) stay time for patients who had an intra-hospital transfer from the medical-surgical unit. 

In the controlled study, the researchers compared a 33-bed medical-surgical unit (intervention unit) to a sister control unit for a 9-month pre-implementation and a 9-month post implementation period. Outcome results showed a decrease in the overall length of stay by 0.37 days, a reduction of 9%. The average stay in the ICU for patient transferred from the medical-surgical unit was significantly lower in the intervention unit post implementation by about 2 days, a 45% reduction. Furthermore, the rate of code blue events decreased by 86%.

“Early detection of patient deterioration in general care units should be a top priority for healthcare institutions.” said Dr. David Bates, Director of the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice, Senior Vice President for Quality and Safety, Chief Quality Officer, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “Continuous monitoring is a key factor in recognizing and promptly responding to early warning signs which should help decrease patient morbidity and mortality, as well as length of hospital stay and costs. The study also showed the the continuous monitoring used did not cause alarm fatigue, because of the analytics used by EarlySense which “weeds out” the false positives. We have also assessed the financial impact of the intervention.”

Current literature shows that in the 24 hours prior to ICU admission, as many as 80% of patients have had abnormal values for heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygenation. The EarlySense monitoring system helps facilitate timely interventions for these high-risk patients by adding a layer of care with continuous monitoring and drawing attention to those who may show early signs of deterioration.

For more information about EarlySense, visit www.EarlySense.com. 

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.

+ posts

Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.