Bangkok--29 Jul--Image Impact
In the current discussion on healthcare costs, modern medical technology is often cited as one of the factors driving up costs. Professor Marc Kraft, MD of the Medical Technology Department of the Technical University of Berlin, however, has reached a different conclusion. In a study he conducted together with Droege & Comp. Management Consulting Firm he identified 10 innovations that could contribute savings of approximately ?870 million annually to the German healthcare system. The study results showed that SmartCare/PS from Dr?ger, a system which is designed to wean intensive care unit (ICU) patients from artificial ventilation, offered the highest savings potential.
From a water-saving connector for steam sterilizers to a surgical microscope for minimally invasive interventions to an orthotic to relieve heel strain — approximately 50 products from a variety of medical equipment companies were studied. As part of their cost-benefit analysis, the researchers looked at direct savings in materials and personnel costs through more efficient procedures and shorter hospital stays. Based on the number of cases and the affected hospitals, the researchers estimated the savings potential for the entire country. The estimates also took into account the indirect savings realized through prevention or cure of diseases resulting from new procedures. For SmartCare/PS the researchers calculated a savings potential of approximately ?650 million per year in Germany alone. Savings can be realized mainly by reducing the patients’ hospital stay by approximately 2.6 days and the avoidance of otherwise necessary medication and supplies valued at ?2,000.
Knowledge based weaning
Over 50% of all patients in the ICU are artificially ventilated at elevated pressures, which can damage lung tissues. The procedure is also uncomfortable for the patient and often requires high doses of sedatives and pain medication. These medications in turn suppress spontaneous respiration and thus increase treatment time. When a patient is weaned from the ventilator, the elevated pressures are reduced incrementally by hand at the device. The patient has to be monitored constantly to ensure that he or she remains stable without artificial support.
SmartCare/PS, based on clinical protocols, is integrated into the Evita?XL ventilator and performs the weaning process automatically. After data such as patient weight and type of intubation is entered, the breathing rate, tidal volume and end-tidal carbon dioxide parameters of the patient are automatically measured at 10-second intervals and analyzed every two to five minutes. This data is used as a basis for diagnosis, upon which the pressure support is adjusted to support the patient’s current ventilation needs. As soon as the pressure support can be reduced to a previously determined threshold, the SmartCare/PS automatically attempts a spontaneous breath. If the patient succeeds in breathing spontaneously, a message “Suggest Separation” is displayed.
Improving patients’ comfort, automatic patient monitoring that frees up medical staff to attend to other urgent cases, and shortening ICU stays are some of the benefits that the SmartCare/PS system can offer.