The impact of Early Warning Scoring systems

Better health outcomes, lower cost of care and improved staff, patient and family experience

Patient deterioration is a significant clinical and financial burden for patients, providers, and healthcare systems.² Clinicians are increasingly treating older, sicker populations at risk for complications and in-hospital adverse events.³ As the volume of hospitalizations for these patients continues to rise, providers are challenged to manage more acute, resource intensive populations in a resource-constrained environment.³

Compounded with a scarcity of beds in higher acuity care areas, patient status may be underestimated, and patients may be admitted or transferred to lower acuity care areas while still at risk for deterioration and resulting serious adverse events.

This scenario may be attributable to a relative lack of resources in lower acuity settings, a significant decrease in nurse to patient ratios, and/or a lack of care coordination. However, evidence of the signs of patient deterioration may be present 6-24 hours prior to an event.⁵ For example, 66% of cardiac arrest patients show abnormal signs and symptoms up to 6 hours prior to cardiac arrest, but physicians are only notified 25% of the time.⁶ Moreover, nursing staff may be unaware of abnormal vital signs in almost 50% of patients in the general [i.e., lower acuity] ward⁷ as they struggle to manage time pressures and work interruptions throughout their shift.⁸

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