ICU without walls project. Effect of the early detection of patients at risk

Abstract Objectives To describe and evaluate the impact of a system for early detection and intervention in patients at risk outside the ICU upon the outcome of patients admitted to the ICU and the number of cases of hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. Setting A second-level hospital in the Community of Madrid (Spain) with electronic clinical histories. Methods An intensivist reviewed each of the patients meeting the inclusion criteria, and decided the need or not for intervention. Posteriorly, in collaboration with the physician supervising the patient, the needed level of care was decided, along with the subsequent management protocol. Design A descriptive and quasi-experimental “before-after” study was made. Results A total of 202 patients were intervened during the study period, with the inclusion of 147 patients after detecting altered laboratory test results through our software application. During the control period, the mortality rate in the ICU was 9%, versus 4.4% during the intervention period ( p  = 0.03). In the multivariate analysis, the two factors significantly related to mortality were admission during the intervention period (OR = 0.42; 95%CI: 0.18–0.98; p  = 0.04) and SAPS 3 (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.07–1.14; p p  = 0.07). Conclusions Early detection activities in patients at risk outside the ICU can have beneficial effects upon the patients admitted to the ICU, and can contribute to reduce the number of hospital cardiopulmonary arrests.