Background: The substantial increase in medical knowledge along with the pursuit of enhanced outcomes and quality of care has led to significant subdivision of medical and surgical specialties. Physicians, regardless of level of training or scope of practice, should be able to efficiently and safely approach and manage a patient that is facing a medical [...]

Background: Rapid response teams play an important role in the care of clinically deteriorating patients. Variability in team members, setting, and activation criteria creates unique challenges to studying these teams. The complexities and inefficiencies of rapid responses due to their heterogeneity are poorly understood. Here, we explore opportunities for improved rapid response team efficiency using [...]

Background: With the widespread implementation of rapid response system aimed at improving patient outcomes, providers are expected to perform the early detection, manage clinically deteriorating patients, and communicate effectively with rapid response teams (RRTs). Prior literature has reported that users of RRT described uncomfortable interactions, reduced clinical autonomy, role ambiguity, and a desire for improved [...]

Background: A Rapid Response (RR) Team is activated when there is an acute change in a patient’s condition. Rapid responses are called when certain criteria are met. A delay in activation of the rapid response or non-activation of the rapid response can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Goal 16 of the Joint Commission’s [...]

Background: Sepsis is a common, costly, and mortal clinical syndrome. Many delays in sepsis recognition and intervention are due to “data latency,” the period of time between data suggestive of sepsis being entered in the EHR to identification and interpretation by a care provider. The magnitude of this delay can be significant, as the diagnostic [...]

Background: The healthcare system needs tools that can predict which patients are at risk of deterioration, before adverse outcomes such as cardiac arrest or even death occur. Many of these patients will show signs of significant physiological deterioration in the 24 hours prior to ICU transfer or cardiac arrest [1-4]. Different scores have been developed [...]

Background: Modified Early Warning System(MEWS) is a scoring system based on vitals sign and clinical observation which has been implemented in 2007 as a useful tool to timely recognition and early intervention. The effectiveness of implementation of MEWS as an important tool for rapid response team has been a question and the main objective of [...]

Background: Rapid response system (RRS) was developed in recent decades for the timely identification and treatment of clinically deteriorating patients. Appropriate use of RRS will decrease the incidence of cardiac arrest and mortality. Although efficacy of RRS was reported mostly in an inpatient setting, there were very limited data in an outpatient setting. The aim [...]

Background: Numerous early warning systems (EWS) exist as potential tools to improve patient safety. Our system recognized higher than peer rates of rapid response (RRT) utilization as well as higher than desired out-of-ICU code blue rates leading to a desire to implement a EWS system. Over a three-year period we reviewed the literature, developed, and [...]

Background: The first 24 hours of a patient’s hospitalization is a vulnerable time period, with many aspects of care occurring at a time when patients are at their highest levels of medical acuity. Compounding this, delays in care during the transition from the ED to an inpatient level of care could result in potentially avoidable [...]