A new study by clinicians at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center shows that the use of a remote monitoring technology coupled with a clinician notification system can boost patient outcomes as well as reduce costs.
Clinicians at DMHC have been involved in a yearlong study of Irvine, Calif.-based Masimo's Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry, which measures blood constituents and fluid responsiveness, coupled with Masimo's Patient SafetyNet, a monitoring system that wirelessly links at-risk patients to clinicians.
George T. Blike, medical director of patient safety at DHMC, and his team found that implementation of Masimo's Rainbow SET and Patient SafetyNet led to a 70 percent reduction in rescue calls and a 48 percent reduction in ICU transfers. The reduction in ICU transfers helped to free up an estimated 163 ICU-days annually for DHMC's 36-bed post-surgical unit, thereby increasing ICU access for more critically ill patients.
Clinicians say there is a measurable cost advantage associated with Masimo Patient SafetyNet's ability to assist clinicians in the earlier identification of patient distress.
"The data tracked in this 12-month study demonstrates that routine patient monitoring on the general care floor using Masimo Rainbow SET and the Patient SafetyNet system, with its ability to measure oxygen saturation continuously and directly page a nurse when problems are identified, was associated with statistically significant reductions in the need for urgent and emergent interventions," said Blike.
"Initial analysis shows we reduced the need for ICU transfers and, we believe, the cost of care through early detection and intervention of physiologic abnormalities. These results are such that we have expanded implementation of the system to two additional post-surgical units," he said.
The team also found that the cost of care for patients undergoing bilateral or multiple major joint prosthesis operations of the lower extremity who did not deteriorate to the point of rescue was 60 percent less ($19,987) than the cost of care for patients who did ($49,602).
Clinicians also found that the length of stay for non-rescued patients was 68 percent shorter than that of rescued patients (3.9 days versus 12.3 days). And for major joint replacement operations of the lower extremity, the length of stay for patients who did not require a rescue call was 38 percent shorter (3.6 days versus 5.8 days), which resulted in a 31 percent decrease in their cost of care ($13,648 versus $19,765).
"By revolutionizing pulse oximetry with the invention of Signal Extraction Technology (SET), we created a new era where pulse oximeters could measure through motion and low perfusion, resulting in the virtual elimination of false alarms with an increased ability to detect true events, said Masimo Founder and CEO Joe E. Kiani.
"The evidence gathered by Dr. Blike and his team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center continues to illustrate the substantial impact of Masimo technology on patient safety benchmarks," he said. "These caring clinical professionals have done their hospital and the medical community a great service by implementing a solid protocol with Masimo Rainbow SET and Patient SafetyNet to more effectively and efficiently care for their patients after surgery on the general care floor. Their results provide a compelling case and opportunity for hospitals to improve healthcare outcomes while decreasing costs."
