Adult Deterioration Detection System (ADDS): An evaluation of the impact on MET and Code blue activations in a regional healthcare service

Abstract

AimsTo evaluate the impact of Acute Deterioration Detection System (ADDS) charts introduced to a regional healthcare service. BackgroundTo assist health professionals in identifying essential elements for recognizing patient clinical deterioration, a national initiative introduced track and trigger observation charts, to hospitals in Australia. This study investigated whether the introduction of ADDS charts had an impact on the number of Medical Emergency Team (MET) and Code Blue activations at one regional healthcare service, according to their incident recording database. MethodA retrospective study of all Code Blue and MET activations was undertaken at a regional hospital, pre and post the introduction of ADDS charts in a two year period, June 2012 to June 2014. ResultsThere was a significant increase in MET activations from 5.91 to 11.27 per 1000 admissions (p<0.01) after the implementation of ADDS charts. There was also an unexplained non-significant increase from 0.50 to 0.88 per 1000 admissions in the activations of Code Blue during this period (p=0.05). It was also found that ADDS charts did not overly influence the activation criteria for calling a MET/Code Blue, except for an increase in reports of high heart rate and a decrease in the use of the criteria ‘worried’. ConclusionThe introduction of ADDS charts has provided health professionals with a clear track and trigger set of criteria, improving the detection of early signs of deterioration in patients. This study demonstrated an increase in activations as a result of the introduction of ADDS charts in one regional healthcare service.