Piloting electronic medical record-based early detection of inpatient deterioration in community hospitals.

Patients who deteriorate in the hospital outside the intensive care unit (ICU) have higher mortality and morbidity than those admitted directly to the ICU. As more hospitals deploy comprehensive inpatient electronic medical records (EMRs), attempts to support rapid response teams with automated early detection systems are becoming more frequent. We aimed to describe some of the technical and operational challenges involved in the deployment of an early detection system.

An electronic order set for acute myocardial infarction is associated with improved patient outcomes through better adherence to clinical practice guidelines.

Background: Adherence to evidence-based recommendations for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unsatisfactory.

Objective: Quantifying association between using an electronic AMI order set (AMI-OS) and hospital processes and outcomes.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.