Case Study: Massachusetts General Hospital – How AI Strengthened the Care Team

Challenge

In the post COVID-19 landscape, the hospital was experiencing a large number of falls with injury annually, leading to over $1 million a year in costs. The hospital has historically invested in 1:1 sitters for physical observation 24-7. For 4 hospital units, the spend is over $2m on sitters annually, yet the fall rates have not substantially improved. Several hospital units are hybrid units with COVID-19 infectious disease rooms, which poses a challenge to staff workflows and patient care.

Massachusetts General Hospital was seeking to deploy an innovative, scalable, and automated monitoring solution to improve patient outcomes, minimize physical 1:1, and limit remote manual observation in a hybrid COVID-19 unit.

Solution

In January 2022, Inspiren launched on a 27-bed Med-Surg oval-shaped unit with half COVID-19 infectious disease rooms. Inspiren partnered with Innovation, Clinical, and IT teams to quickly deploy the AUGi platform: AUGi Basestation, Smart Lanyards, Mobile app on iPhone and tablet at central nursing station, and Tableau analytics.

Inspiren’s technology was adapted to the multi-bed occupancy rooms and installed without disruption to patients. To ensure maximum adoption into the nursing workflow, onsite staff training and support was provided.

The solution allowed staff the ability to use key features specific to the patient care required in general or infectious disease settings on mobile phones and central unit tablets.

Outcomes

• Reduction in Falls: Staff achieved a 50% reduction in patient falls with injury. Using targeted AI alerts per patient and mobile Live View, nurses successfully prevented falls and reduced alarm fatigue.
• Enhanced Workflow: In-person sitters were augmented with the use of mobile Live View to monitor patients remotely. The increased scope of patients on the go allowed the staff’s workflows to seamlessly improve.
• Staff Safety: For COVID-19 rooms, staff performed virtual check-ins with patients increasing the number of touchpoints while improving workflow. Nurses delivered targeted patient care reducing exposure to COVID-19 and giving peace of mind.