Case Studies
Case Study: Bed Falls
How the Beat Analytics System
could have helped prevent a bed fall
Bed exits and falls are one of the most common and devastating adverse events
that occur.
The Darroch team hypothesized that restlessness, which may lead to a bed exit, can be captured through sharp changes in vital signs measurements.
This patient exhibited a wide variation in vital signs around point 160, which correlates to 7:47 AM. A retrospective review of the EMR in late August showed that the patient exited the bed at 8:05AM and fell, and thus there were 18 minutes where an intervention may have occurred.
With the BAS, nurses would have been alerted to the vast variation in the patient’s vital signs, which would have clued them into a potential upcoming fall, potentially leading them into preventing the fall from happening.
This graph shows the variation in a bed scale's load sensors. This patient exhibits relatively low variation until 1PM. In a retrospective review of the patient's EMR, this patient got out of bed and fell around 1:30PM.
With the BAS, nurses could also have been alerted to this unusual variation in load sensor readings. In the future, potential integrations between vital signs and these readings could shed light on new methods of bed exit anticipation.
Case Study: Pneumonia
How the Beat Analytics System enabled Nurses to prevent an Adverse Event
This patient suffered from pneumonia while recovering in a step-down unit. This patient removed their oxygen assistance sometime around 12:50PM, leading to the sharp declines in their SPO2 level.
Because the Beat Analytics System notified the nurses when the boundary condition was breached, nurses were able to reengage oxygen assistance and prevent further deterioration in patient conditions and resulting complications.
Without the BAS, the nurses would not have been notified of the patient’s deterioration and would have attended to the problem later, potentially leading to lasting debilitation and potential ICU readmission.
