Royal Philips : Managing data overload and alarm fatigue in the ICU

In any given health system, data is integral to the success of value-based care. However, data is only useful if it's meaningful and actionable. Data overload, coupled with non-actionable insights, is the main cause of alarm fatigue, a major challenge in hospitals across the globe. The very alarm tools put in place to help clinicians are actually often making them feel more overwhelmed, and the inundation of noise can make the technology counterproductive.

More than just a nuisance, alarm fatigue can lead to the silencing of alarms, breaking monitoring protocols and missing true positive alarms, placing a tremendous burden on caregivers and jeopardizing patient safety. For short-staffed nurses, false alarms are more than annoyances, with approximately 10% of nursing time lost responding to non-actionable alarms. Beyond patient safety risks, alarm fatigue can also cause stress, depression, reduced productivity and burnout among clinicians.

Considering patients, staff and families may be exposed to up to 700 alarms a day [1], it's no surprise that alarm fatigue is a serious problem. Yet few hospitals have comprehensive programs to manage 'alarm pollution.'

To actively address these challenges, health systems need to equip clinicians with the tools to connect and synthesize data in real-time, giving care teams visibility into the right patient data at the right time, regardless of where they are in the hospital. Tools like the Alarm Advisor, available on the Philips Patient Information Center iX (PIC iX), track silencing behavior and provide guidance to adapt alarm limits specific to the patient.