https://www.vocera.com/uk/blog/employing-power-ai-and-interoperability-reduce-sepsis-mortality Skip to main content
  • Careers
  • 0800 652 8773
  • United States
    • United States
    • United Kingdom
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • Middle East
    • Canada
  • search
  • Customer Support
Logo Vocera
Menu
MenuMenuMenu
1.888.986.2372 Close Menu
  • About Vocera
    • Careers
    • Our Mission
    • Investors
    • Newsroom
    • COVID-19
    • Year Of The Nurse
    • Virtual Events
    • HIMSS 2021
  • Products
    • V5000 Smartbadge
      V5000
      Smartbadge
    • B3000N Badge
      B3000N
      Badge
    • Vocera Products
      Compare
      Vocera Products
    • Vocera Accessories
      Vocera
      Accessories
    • Vocera Platform
      Vocera
      Platform
    Vocera Enterprise Platform
    • Engage Intelligent Workflow
    • Analytics
    Compare Communication Devices
    • Smartbadge
    • Badge
    • Smartphones
    Mobile Applications
    • Vina
    • Collaboration Suite
  • Solutions
    • Family Communication
    • Staff Safety
    • Secure Text Messaging
    • Alarm Management
    • Integrations
    • Pager Replacement
    • Covid-19
  • Services
    • Customer Technical Support
    • Access Technical Support Portal (customers with active support contracts).

    • Professional Services
    • Experts to help with workflow enhancements and solution deployment.

    • Vocera University
    • Accelerate proficiency and performance with our customized courseware, in-person and self-guided training opportunities.

    • Accessories and E-Store
    • Order batteries, chargers, specially-designed lanyards and clips, headsets and more.

  • Industries
    • Healthcare
    • Veterans' Affairs Healthcare
    • Department of Defense Healthcare
    • Long-Term Care
    • Hospitality
    • Retail
    • Veterinary Care
    • Education
    • Energy
  • Resources
    • Case Studies
    • Data Sheets
    • Guides
    • Technical Documentation
    • Solution Briefs
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Blog
    • Podcast
  • contact us
  • support portal
  • contact us
  • United States
    • United States
    • United Kingdom
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
  • search
Vocera Logo

525 Race Street San Jose, CA 95126 United States (888)-9VOCERA

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Employing the Power of AI and Interoperability to Reduce Sepsis Mortality
    • All Topics
    • Enabling Safety and Quality Care
    • Saving Steps and Saving Time
    • Transforming
      the Experience
    • Enhancing Care
      with Technology

    Employing the Power of AI and Interoperability to Reduce Sepsis Mortality

    • by Dr. Penny Cooper

    Topics Covered:

    • Enabling Safety and Quality Care

    Share:

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Linkedin
    • print
    September, 2019
    Reduce Sepsis Mortality
    Reduce Sepsis Mortality

    Dr. Penny Cooper, DHSc, is a data scientist at Augusta Health

    Augusta Health is a community hospital nestled in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley focused on improving the health and well-being of our community. The statewide sepsis mortality rate in Virginia is 12.7%, while at Augusta Health it is 4.76%. We have been able to achieve a significantly lower sepsis mortality rate by employing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and communication technology. So far, we have saved nearly 300 lives that could have been lost to sepsis.

    Mortality from sepsis increases by as much as 8% for every hour that treatment is delayed. Our nurses are highly trained and are skilled at detecting early symptoms of sepsis based on standard indicators. They are also very busy. Aware of how many patients our nurses care for and the many tasks nurses juggle at once, our leadership team wanted to provide our nurses with additional support. Among the resources provided was a program to identify symptoms of sepsis sooner.

    We formed a Sepsis Team and Taskforce in 2016 to take advantage of AI and communication capabilities and give our nurses an extra set of eyes to automatically review patient data and alert them as soon as a patient shows signs of being septic. Our goal was to detect and treat sepsis as early as possible and save lives.

    Automated Process for Sepsis Risk Detection and Alerts

    We began by using the four traditional criteria to identify sepsis – a temperature greater than 38°C, heart rate greater than 90, respiratory rate greater than 20, and an abnormal white blood cell count. In addition, we monitored mean arterial pressure and shock index. Our Sepsis Team and Taskforce then began a retrospective study of the data to determine which variables had the highest correlation to Sepsis.

    We used the results of that study as a benchmark for developing an automated process that analyzes and compiles real-time data from medical systems each hour and assigns each patient a score. If the score is above a specific threshold, a sepsis alert is sent automatically to team members caring for that patient. Team members receive the alert with contextual information on their mobile communication device, which might be a hands-free Vocera Badge or a smartphone running a Vocera app.

    How Hospitals Are Saving Time and Saving Lives with Fast, Actionable Sepsis Alerts from Vocera Communications

    System Interoperability Including Real-Time Communication

    The automated process involves interoperability among three systems:

    • Our electronic medical record (EMR), MEDITECH
    • Our predictive analytics tool, which scours critical data in a patient’s record
    • The Vocera clinical workflow and communication system

    We considered other sepsis alert tools that flagged potential sepsis cases within patients’ EMRs. However, those tools provide clinicians with sepsis alert flags only when they open the patient’s medical record. By contrast, the system we built alerts the care team immediately on their Vocera Badge or smartphone, without any manual intervention. Sepsis alerts are automatically sent to the right care team to initiate care quickly when early signs of infection are identified.

    System interoperability has been key to ensuring the right data with situational information gets to the right clinicians at the right time. Upon receiving an alert, the assigned staff member immediately screens the patient for sepsis. If sepsis is identified, they begin early intervention.

    Saving Time, Saving Lives

    In the United States, more than 1.7 million people develop sepsis each year, and approximately 270,000 of them die. To decrease mortality rates and increase the likelihood of reversing the damaging outcomes of sepsis, early detection is critical. Hundreds of lives that could have been lost to sepsis have been saved because of our Early Sepsis Alert System; between April 2016 and March 2019, we were able to save 282 lives.

    The work done by our teams at Augusta Health to reduce mortality rates from sepsis has been a collaborative effort. Health Quality Innovators (HQI) named our hospital the Health Quality Innovator for Virginia in the category of Data-driven Care in 2018. U.S. News & World Report recognized Augusta Health as a Best Hospital in the Shenandoah Valley for 2019-20.

    We are very proud of these honors and are happy to have the opportunity to share our work with other facilities around the state so more lives can be saved.

    Share:

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Linkedin
    • print

    Most Recent

    Recommended

    • NHIT Week 2019: Creating Healthy Communities with Technology

    • Celebrating Star Trek and the Next Frontier of Voice Communication in Healthcare

    • Employing the Power of AI and Interoperability to Reduce Sepsis Mortality

    • What Hospitals Can Learn about Incident Detection from the Notre Dame Disaster

    • Using Technology to Help Prevent Falls in the Hospital

    • Hospital Secure Messaging: 7 Lessons Learned

    • Three Tips for Reducing Sepsis Risk

    • Halifax Health: Better Communication for Better Patient Care

    Most Recent Related Stories

    What Hospitals Can Learn about Incident Detection

    What Hospitals Can Learn about Incident Detection from the N...

    Using Technology image

    Using Technology to Help Prevent Falls in the Hospital

    Improving staff

    Improving Staff Safety in Hospitals – Protecting Healthcare’...

    Stay Connected
    100 Longwater Avenue
    Green Park
    Reading, Berkshire
    RG2 6GP
    United Kingdom

    0800 652 8773

    ABOUT US
    • Home
    • Year Of The Nurse
    • Empower Heroes
    • Customer Advocacy
    • Locations
    • Patient Privacy
    • Partners
    • Social and Environmental Responsibility
    • Supply Chain Transparency
    • Ethics Hotline
    Careers
    News & Events
    • Press Releases
    • News and Research
    • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Gartner Reports
    Resource Center
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Data Sheets
    • Guides
    • Podcast
    • Solution Briefs
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    PRESS RELEASES
    BLOGS
    PODCAST
     
    © Copyright 2019 Vocera Communications. All Rights Reserved.
    Privacy - Legal - Site Map