A Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospital early warning system, Advance Alert Monitor (AAM), that helps care teams saves hundreds of lives each year by predicting which patients are at high risk for clinical deterioration, received the top award from The International Hospital Federation for patient safety and quality.

Carrie Owen Plietz, FACHE, president of Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region, accepted the Gold Winner designation in the Austco Excellence Award for Quality and Patient Safety category at the federation’s 44th World Hospital Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

“I want to recognize the incredible team that brought this vision to action,” said Owen Plietz. “I value their innovation, focus on human-centered design, and their goal of advancing technological integration to elevate quality and safety for those we serve.”

The early warning system uses a predictive algorithm that scans almost 100 elements from patient health records hourly at 21 hospitals in Northern California, giving clinicians a 12-hour lead time prior to clinical deterioration, permitting early detection and intervention. A team of specially trained virtual Quality nurses continuously monitor and evaluate the alerts. Based on the score, the nurse will evaluate the record and, if indicated, contact an on-site response team which partners with the patients and families to establish a patient-center plan of care.

The Automated Early Warning System of Adults at Risk for in-Hospital Clinical Deterioration Advance Alert Monitor Program was tested in 2013 and rolled out to all 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals between 2016 and 2019.

Findings from an analysis of the program reported in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the system was responsible for saving 520 lives per year over a 3-and-a-half-year study period.

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