Alarm Management
Using mobile devices to manage monitoring alarms with Philips CareEvent video

With clinical context in their hands, caregivers at Isala Women and Children’s Hospital can make an informed decision to respond to an alarm, escalate to a colleague or rule it non-actionable. 

Alarm management

Analysis, consulting, training and reporting services paired with configurable alarm technologies and tailored to your organisation.

 

Visual and audible alarms in critical care environments can be a contributor to medical errors, and can cause unnecessary stress and burden on caregivers and patients.1 Some caregivers are flooded with 150 to 350 alarm conditions per patient per day2. The result can include staff burnout and lost productivity, as well as unnecessary patient transfers to the ICU and extended lengths of stay.3

Keep your focus on actionable patient alarms

 

Non-actionable alarm signals are often caused by motion artifacts, manipulation of the patient or patient movement, inappropriate alarm limits or faulty technology, and can divert time and attention away from patients.4 Our solution can be configured to alert caregivers when vital signs reach your chosen thresholds, and to remain silent when events are non-actionable. With a Care Assist that brings alarms and information to caregivers on the go toreporting and analysis tools, and consulting and clinical education services to fine-tune your approach, you can gain control over clinical alarms in critical care environments.

“After all the changes we made, we reduced our alarms by 40% – exceeding our initial goal by a quarter.”

–Ineke van de Pol

ICU nurse practitioner, St. Antonius Hospital

Minimize disruption in care areas by acknowledging alarms outside of patient rooms.

Philips Event Notification services combined with the Philips Care Assist app allow clinicians to see  patient data and act on it – including acknowledging alarms, taking a NBP, SpO2 – from their mobile device.

Care Assist can help you..

 

Gain visibility into patients’ status remotely

By allowing clinicians to view Philips and non-Philips data and then take action, initiate measurements* in order to check the patient’s vitals, without disturbing patients in their room

 

Review alarm data

By giving clinicians a retrospective view of a patient’s alarm history so they can share, save or text it to colleagues to improve alarm management and communication

 

Get pertinent alarm notifications on mobile devices and escalate critical alarms

By using Care Assist in conjunction with Philips Event Notification system, which filters what kinds of alarms are distributed, where they’re routed and how they’re presented

Benefits icon

Benefits

Clinical

Reduction in non-actionable alarms3and gaps in alarm protocol

Enhanced patient safety with possible fewer missed true positive alarms5

Improved sleep and rest6

Improved patient and family satisfaction6

Financial

Reduced patient length of stay7

Avoidable patient harm and potentially costly repercussions from transfers to the ICU, extended length of stay  and litigation8-14

Decrease in staff turnover6

Operational

Increased staff satisfaction, improved productivity and less burnout4,15

Reduced alarm fatigue5,16,17

Better use of nursing resources18(about 10% of nursing time is lost responding to non-actionable alarms)

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Why invest in a healing environment?

Excessive, non-actionable alarms are a serious threat in healthcare. Hospitals and healthcare organisations may find the time is right for a comprehensive alarm management program because:

Alarm fatigue is leading to staff burnout, dissatisfaction and high turnover

 

An adverse patient event—or  even death—is prompting an evaluation of processes

 

An organisational priority to create a more restful, healing environment for patients and families

 

Older equipment need to be upgraded and alarm analytics are now available as a feature

a screen showing pictures

Responsive, intelligent alarm management

 

Philips Alarm Advisor helps enable clinicians to cut through the ding of non-actionable alarms and alerts them when set thresholds may be too sensitive.

 

The tool provides a notification on screen, prompting the clinician to evaluate that patient’s condition and either take action or customise the patient’s alarm limits.

Philips alarm advisor video

Ruskin KJ, Hueske-Kraus D. Alarm fatigue: impacts on patient safety. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2015 Dec;28(6):685-90 Wilken M, Hüske-Kraus D, Klausen A, et al. Alarm fatigue: causes and effects. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2017;243:107-111.

ECRI Top 10 Technology Risks 2017-18.

Keith J. Ruskina and Dirk Hueske-Kraus, Alarm fatigue: impacts on patient safety, Volume 28, Number 6, December 2015

Multicentric study of monitoring alarms in the adult intensive care unit (ICU): a descriptive analysis”, Intensive Care Medicine, 1999, V: 12 E:12, pp. 1360-1366.

Konkani A, Oakley B, Bauld TJ: Reducing hospital noise: a review of medical device alarm management. Biomed Instrum Technol 2012, 46(6):478-87

Görges M, Markewitz BA, Westenskow DR: Improving Alarm Performance in the Medical Intensive Care Unit Using Delays and Clinical Context. Anesth. Analg.  2009, May 1,  108: 1546-1552

AAMI Foundation. Clinical alarm: 2011 Summit convened by AAMI

ECRI Institute. ECRI Institute Announces Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2015. www.ecri.org/press/Pages/ECRI-Institute-Announces-Top-10-Health-Technology-Hazards-for-2015.aspx2016.

10 Sendelbach S, Funk M. Alarm fatigue: a patient safety concern. AACN Adv Crit Care 2013;24:378–86. 10.1097/NCI.0b013e3182a903f9 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24153215

11 Kowalczyk L. Suit over cardiac monitor settled - MGH patient died despite alarms. Boston Globe 2011. 

12 Kowalczyk L. ‘Alarm fatigue’ a factor in 2d death - UMass hospital cited for violations. Boston Globe 2011. 

13 Drew BJ, Harris P, Zègre-Hemsey JK, et al. Insights into the problem of alarm fatigue with physiologic monitor devices: a comprehensive observational study of consecutive intensive care unit patients. PLoS One 2014;9:e110274

14 1371/journal.pone.0110274 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4206416/

15 AAMI Foundation’s HTSI (Healthcare Technology Safety Institute): Using Data to Drive Alarm System Improvement Efforts: The Johns Hopkins Hospital Experience. Johns Hopkins Hospital 2012

16 Welch J: An evidence-based approach to reduce nuisance alarms and alarm fatigue. Biomed Instrum Technol  2011, Spring;Suppl:46-52

17 Imhoff M, Kuhls S, Gather U et al.: Clinical relevance of alarms from bedside patient monitors. Crit Care Med 2007, 35(suppl):A178

18 Just a nuisance? Alarm management white paper

19 Bi-directional control to initiate measurements and take action for Philips devices only

20 When configured to work with Philips PIC iX 4 Event Notification and Philips monitors, Care Assist becomes part of an alarming system that meets current IEC 60601-1-8 alarm safety standards

 

General disclaimer: Results of customer testimonies are not predictive of results in other cases, where results may vary.

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