AMSTERDAM and SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. and LAS VEGAS, March 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced the integration of Philips IntelliVue Guardian with automated Early Warning Scoring (EWS) into the general care units of Saratoga Hospital has helped improve patient safety and clinical outcomes. Since implementing Philips' patient monitoring technology in 2015, Saratoga Hospital has reduced patient transfers to the intensive care unit (ICU) by 63 percent and eliminated patient codes within its 20-bed orthopedic unit, which dropped from three or four codes per year to zero.

There are 440,000 preventable adverse events that contribute to patient deaths in U.S. hospitals every year¹. Most patients are not identified until 15 minutes before they suffer cardiac arrest that often lead to an adverse event or admittance to the ICU². In general care units, it is often difficult for caregivers to determine which patients are at the greatest risk of having an unexpected serious adverse event such as cardiac arrest or even death.

Before implementing an automated scoring solution, such as the IntelliVue Guardian Solution, for supporting detection of potential clinical deteriorations, caregivers at Saratoga Hospital would take patients' vital signs every four hours, and this information would be manually logged into the electronic medical record (EMR) to be further assessed by nurses. Using Saratoga Hospital's modified early warning score (MEWS) algorithm, the IntelliVue Guardian Solution, as implemented, streamlines the manual process by automating the scoring that aids clinicians in identifying deviations in a patient's vital signs. It also incorporates an automated respiration rate into its EWS calculations to further enhance quality and accuracy. Respiration rate, which is not always captured correctly, is an important factor in accurately predicting both sepsis and cardiac arrest³.  In most cases, this early identification occurs hours before a potential adverse event, giving Saratoga's clinicians time to intervene prior to patient deterioration.

"Improving patient safety and reducing codes in the general ward is a top priority for our team," said Diane Bartos, Administrative Director of the Intensive Care Unit, Saratoga Hospital. "In order to provide the best care possible, we must equip our caregivers with the technological resources they need to be successful. Our caregivers use the Philips IntelliVue Guardian Solution every day, helping them to make more confident care decisions and intervene earlier."

"The general floor is busy with increased patient acuity due to chronic illness, so it's critical to provide clinicians with technology that allows for more efficient workflows," said Felix Baader, Business Leader, Monitoring and Analytics at Philips. "With our solution implemented, providers like Saratoga Hospital can have clinical insights they need to help improve patient care while enhancing their workflow. The results they've seen include reduction in patient codes and transfers to critical care. This shows the true impact and value of this type of collaboration, as well as how technology can help hospitals address the quadruple aim, by improving patient outcomes and staff satisfaction, enhancing patient experience, and lowering costs."

Philips' full suite of integrated patient monitoring solutions will be showcased at booth #3812 at the 2018 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition taking place March 5-9 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, NV. For more information on Philips' presence at the event, please visit www.usa.philips.com/himss and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #HIMSS18 updates.

¹ James, JT. A New, Evidence-based Estimate of Patient Harms Associated with Hospital Care. Journal of Patient Safety: September 2013 - Volume 9 - Issue 3 - p 122–128.
² Hillman K, Chen J, Cretikos M, et al. MERIT study investigators Introduction of the medical emergency team (MET) system: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2005;365 (9477):2091–2097.
³ Field D (2006) 'Respiratory care'. In: Sheppard M, Wright M eds. Principles and practice of high dependency nursing 2nd edn. Bailliere Tindall, Edinburgh)

For more information, please contact:
Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Group Press Office
Mobile: +1 978-221-8919
Email: kathy.oreilly@philips.com 
Twitter: @kathyoreilly

Silvie Casanova
Philips North America
Tel: + 1-781-879-0692
Email: silvie.casanova@philips.com

Peter Hopper
Director, Marketing and Communications, Saratoga Hospital
Tel: 518-583-8679
Email: phopper@saratogahospital.org 

About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 74,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. 

About Saratoga Hospital
Saratoga Hospital is the Saratoga region's leading healthcare provider and the only acute-care facility in Saratoga County. With a medical staff of more than 450 providers, the hospital offers care in a broad range of medical specialties at more than 20 locations including its Wilton campus and the Saratoga Medical Park at Malta. The Saratoga Hospital Medical Group ensures easy access to services that can have the greatest impact on both individual and community health. In keeping with its emphasis on quality, Saratoga Hospital was the first in the Capital Region to earn Magnet designation for nursing excellence. On Jan. 1, 2017, Saratoga Hospital finalized its affiliation with Albany Medical Center, joining Columbia Memorial Health in creating a regionally integrated, locally governed healthcare system. For more information: www.saratogahospital.org or www.facebook.com/SaratogaHospital.

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SOURCE Royal Philips