Examination of the Impact of Better Surveillance and Communication of Patient Deterioration on Patient Related Outcomes (VitalCare - Guardian Version 2)

The purpose of this study is to assess if the Philips IntelliVue Guardian Solution (IGS) with all its components can significantly improve clinical outcomes for deteriorating patients on a general medical ward prior and after referral to the hospitals' Acute Care Team (ACT). Further, to provide evidence that the Philips IGS assists to increase the efficiency of a hospital's Early Warning Scoring process (afferent and efferent arm of the escalation system). The introduction of such an intelligent automated system offers a unique opportunity to address the breakdown in the chain of prevention by strengthening the reliability of calls-for-help to responders through a technical solution with the potential for a more timely escalation where appropriate. In this study the hospital's Standard of Care protocol for the monitoring of vital signs (including timing, vital signs collected and escalation instructions) will be implemented in a commercially available intelligent automatic monitoring and notification system. No investigational procedures or devices are associated with this protocol.