Early detection of critical illness outside the intensive care unit: Clarifying treatment plans and honoring goals of care using a supportive care team.

Given the high mortality experienced by patients who deteriorate outside the intensive care unit, issues related to patient preferences around escalation of care are common. However, the literature on early warning systems (EWSs) provides limited information on how respecting patient preferences can be incorporated into clinical workflows. In this report, we describe how we developed workflows for integrating supportive care with an automated EWS in the context of a 2-hospital pilot.