3rd Patient Monitoring Roundtable - Alarm Management Standards: Institute of Medical Informatics - Charité

At our third roundtable on March 31, 2022 we looked at the extent to which standards for alarm management already exist and are applied, or whether this is still far in the future. In addition, we brainstormed about needs, ideas and wishes regarding standardization in this area.

In an open mind map, all participants were able to express their thoughts on standards in alarm management, which were then clustered by the Patient Monitoring Roundtable team (see appendix).

To assess the current reality regarding standards in alarm management, many participants working in the clinic reported that standards do not exist or are only inadequately ensured. Also, very heterogeneous processes, depending on the respective unit, and uncertainties in the prioritization of alarms and the setting of thresholds were noted. However, positive examples such as the often existing standards in the operating room were also mentioned.

The term "utopia" came up in relation to expectations of standards. In this extremely lively part of the discussion, keywords such as artificial intelligence (AI), early warning scores and new notification tools in the clinic, such as smartwatches, were mentioned. Sporadically, the need for SOPs was also questioned, as alarm management of the future could possibly function alarm-less or via a closed-loop. The discussion also highlighted potential hurdles and necessary steps in establishing alarm management standards. It was also noted that the pure digitization of a process does not necessarily improve the current situation. Relevant for the implementation of the expectations and wishes are clear definitions of the standards, the consideration of different criteria such as age and medical history, the definition of alarm limits and profiles for the respective department, training schools for the respective devices and - most important - the expansion of interprofessionalism and interdisciplinarity.

The next Roundtable will be held on May 12, 2022 (6 pm) on the topic "Wearables: Clinical Monitoring Device or Lifestyle Gadget?". Registration is possible here. For organizational reasons, we ask for renewed registration even if you have participated in previous events.

Fortunately, the current situation and the applicable directives allow us to hold a hybrid event. With this format, we want to combine the advantages of the real and virtual worlds and enable, on the one hand, personal exchange in direct conversation on site and, on the other hand, participation despite long distances or organizational challenges. We ask you to indicate your preference for participation in presence or online during the registration process.

The Patient Monitoring Roundtable is organized by Hacking Health Berlin and INCH e.V. (Initiative for Collaboration and Innovation in Healthcare e.V.) in cooperation with the Institute for Medical Informatics at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.