Critical care units are highly sensitive units and doctors have to be careful of small errors as they can result in bigger life costing consequences. Electronic Health Records are complex and encompass a huge amount of data; out of which significant points are difficult to filter. In a complex and critical environment like ICUs, this poses the maximum challenge.

Doctors and hospitals are always working towards presenting critical health information with patients and their families in a much organized, filtered and systematic manner, especially for ICUs.

Mayo Clinic has managed to filter massive data down to 60 points of vital information. This data is displayed to ICU physicians in a clear and attractive manner. The technology used to present the crux amongst a plethora of data is called “ambient- intelligence”. When data is filtered it leads to zeroing it down to concentrate on vital information that could impact the patient. Also, explaining the crux of the matter to the patient’s family becomes easier.

This technology leads to higher efficiency in physicians who can spare an extra hour, which can be used towards bedside care, where most of their focus should lie. Thus, the time that was diverted in delving into humungous data, can now be dedicated towards better patient care.

This endeavor is a result of interviewing 1,500 clinicians over a period of two years. The study analyzed and deciphered vital points that can be deduced from the EHR, which significantly impact the patient. Later, after using this information, researchers made an EHR interface for ICU physicians that filtered necessary information. All this information was then displayed on a dashboard with apt color scheming. This dashboard highlighted important data points along with tailormade alerts.

The research was conducted to find out the effect of using this technique, which revealed that mortality rates were cut by half amongst ICU patients who were under treatment after the new system was implemented. ICU stays went down by a staggering 50%. 

It proves when EHR data is filtered out to arrive at the core points it leads to effective and efficient patient care.

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