We all know about “code blues” from hospital TV dramas, where the call over the intercom sends fictional doctors and nurses into high gear. A code blue call indicates a medical emergency or cardiac arrest in a hospital. When a code blue is called, it signals that a patient has experienced a life-threatening medical event and requires immediate attention. Code blue calls can be traumatic for patients and emotionally challenging for medical staff, causing alarm, fatigue and burnout.
Thanks to predictive algorithms and ThoughtWire’s digital twin technology with artificial intelligence (AI) and the trusted, integrated capabilities of Microsoft Cloud, code blue calls could be significantly reduced for health care providers like Oak Valley Health.
Oak Valley Health is a leading community health care organization providing patient-centered care with hospitals in Markham and Uxbridge. Oak Valley Health serves over 409,900 people and employs more than 3,000 people, including more than 550 professional medical staff, and more than 800 volunteers.
Following an internal study by the organization, Oak Valley Health researchers and health care staff realized that by utilizing patient vitals data in real time, they could predict whether a person was starting to deteriorate or improve, allowing them to intervene before a code blue happens. To put information into action, Oak Valley Health partnered with ThoughtWire and several long term care facilities, adopting their Early Warning technology and scoring system in the acute care setting and also adapting and innovating the solution in the long term care space.
ThoughtWire’s Early Warning Network and scoring system, powered by their Digital Twin Technology and Microsoft Azure, helps to streamline the collection, utilization and sharing of clinical data for early detection and prevention of patient/resident health deterioration events. Sophisticated algorithms react to each data update and caregivers are notified when action is required. This technology also comes with a range of benefits to health care providers. They can expect improved transparency and visibility of clinical metrics, optimized care delivery through clinical orchestration and proactive prioritization and mobilization of care resources.
Based on the research, by integrating ThoughtWire’s Early Warning technology and score system, Oak Valley Health, a three-site organization, will see code blue calls nearly eliminated.
“The impact of this technology on patient care has been immeasurable,” said Mark A. Farrow, Chief Information & Privacy Officer, Oak Valley Health. “Leveraging ThoughtWire’s Early Warning and scoring system enables the dedicated health care staff to provide a standard of care all hospitals should strive for.”
ThoughtWire relies on Microsoft Azure as its cloud platform provider to power their health care solutions, allowing for seamless orchestration of their IT, OT and IoT systems. Together, Microsoft and ThoughtWire are working to address some of the biggest challenges for health systems including the rising cost of health care, clinician burnout, the inability to operationalize data quickly, disconnected data silos, and more.
Technology has revolutionized the health care industry in countless ways, from improving patient outcomes to enhancing the efficiency of health care systems. Early warning technology, in particular, has proven to be a crucial tool in health care settings, allowing health care professionals to identify potential health risks early on and intervene promptly. By detecting symptoms and changes in patient conditions before they become critical, early warning technology can save lives, reduce hospital stays, and ultimately improve the quality of care.
