New technology coming to a hospital near you!

How the elderly are benefiting from technological advances

Photo+courtesy+of+EarlySense+via+Google+Images%0A%0AA+photo+of+the+EarlySense+technology+that+monitors+heart+rate%2C+respiratory+rate%2C+and+motion.+

Photo courtesy of EarlySense via Google Images A photo of the EarlySense technology that monitors heart rate, respiratory rate, and motion.

With advances in technology the healthcare system benefits greatly, especially in elder care. EarlySense Live, a unique healthcare system, is an example of how technology can be incorporated to improve patient well-being. Developed by EarlySense, an innovative healthcare company, EarlySense Live is a contact-free patient monitoring system that monitors heart rate, respiratory rate, and motion.

According to EarlySense, EarlySense Live was developed in response to the challenges hospitals face in monitoring non-critical patients. Many hospitals have a difficult time monitoring all patients. With standard bedside medical equipment beeping frequently, nurses and other front-line medical staff are less likely to respond to the beeping sounds since they hear them all day. As a result, hospitals and post-acute care sites are turning to EarlySense Live to support patient safety initiatives, meet regulations, elevate patient care, and assist medical teams.

Junior Jane Nam states, “my mom is a home healthcare nurse so [EarlySense Live] will help her because she is not always there for her patients.” EarlySense Live is not meant to replace the need for a healthcare professional. Rather, it is used as another set of eyes to monitor non-critical patients while the healthcare professional tends to critical patients.

Forbes, an American business magazine, states that EarlySense Live has produced 43% fewer falls, 64% fewer pressure ulcers, and 86% fewer medical emergencies. This system addresses these problems by using piezoelectric technology, which is the ability to generate an electric charge induced by mechanical stress. A sensor is placed under the bed mattress, which applies the piezoelectric technology and detects mechanical vibrations of the heart, respiratory, and patient motion. The EarlySense Live monitoring system allows the medical team to view patient data at the bedside or on a tablet and receive alerts when they are not near the patient.

According to Healthcare IT News, a technology news website, EarlySense Live was developed at the University of Chicago by Dr. Dana Edelson. Edelson is the executive medical director for inpatient quality and safety at the University of Chicago Medical Center and the founder and CEO of Quant HC, which develops algorithms for real-time risk stratification of hospitalized patients. The technology that she created for EarlySense Live is called eCART, which “applies real-time data with a focus on prediction, prevention and treatment, leading to improved patient safety and cost savings.” This artificial intelligence’s main goal is to predict risks in order to provide early intervention, thus leading to reduced mortality rates.

Used worldwide in hospitals, rehab, and nursing facilities, the EarlySense Live system offers the same advantages of a bedside monitor, minus the wires and endless beeping sounds.

This system offers an efficient method to monitor non-critical patients, thus freeing up the medical staff’s time to tend to critical care patients.