A typical private hospital can enhance patient safety and reduce mortality rates similar to larger hospitals by strategically digitalising systems.
At HIMSS25 APAC, Wildan A. Djohany, IT director of EMC Healthcare, shared how their 200-bed private hospital, EMC Grha Kedoya Hospital in West Jakarta, Indonesia, greatly improved its patient vital signs monitoring and early warning system (EWS) in the inpatient department, further preventing Code Blue incidents.
Previously, the hospital dealt with rising Code Blue incidents, given delays and inaccuracies in measuring patient vital signs. Nurses used to record vital signs and calculate EWS scores manually.
"Every delay in vital signs monitoring is a delay in cure," said Djohany.
In 2022, its Code Blue incidence rate reached 0.31% annually, which is higher than its 0.1% target rate per year.
As a solution, EMCGK worked to digitalise its processes. It envisioned having a digitally integrated monitoring system with automated data capture, direct EMR integration, real-time alerts for abnormalities, and a patient monitoring dashboard.
After implementing several changes, including installing smart monitors, wireless communication, and a centralised middleware and integrating the EWS system with the EMR system, EMCGK can now accurately measure patients' vital parameters and calculate EWS scores. Their EWS alerts are also colour-coded now, which allows for faster response.
This change, according to Djohany, resulted in a 67% reduction in Code Blue incidents compared to the period before implementation. Inpatient mortality rate also went down by 9.8%.
Meanwhile, the workload of nurses handling six or seven patients a day decreased by 10%. Citing nurses' feedback, EWS scoring could now be done in under a minute, from 10 minutes previously.
But the digital system implementation was not without challenges: Djohany cited the initial investment cost, EMR integration, staff training, data overload and alarm fatigue, and internet connectivity as some hurdles they had to overcome.
"Don’t wait for a crisis to transform. Start small but [strategically]," he advised.
EMCGK's digitalised patient vital signs monitoring and EWS scoring system was a case study they presented during their recent validation at Stage 6 of the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model.
