IRVINE, Calif.– A new study published in the Journal of Patient Safety has found that continuous patient surveillance monitoring using Masimo SET® pulse oximetry and Patient SafetyNet™ can deliver significant cost savings for hospitals while improving patient outcomes. The research, conducted at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and covering more than 31,000 patients over three and a half years, demonstrates that surveillance monitoring is both clinically beneficial and financially sustainable.
Previous studies have already shown that continuous monitoring with Masimo’s technologies reduces mortality, improves resuscitation outcomes, and lowers the number of rapid response team activations and transfers to intensive care units. In this latest analysis, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock team quantified the financial impact, finding that avoiding rescue events produced a favorable operating margin of about $5,500 per patient, while avoiding transfers yielded more than $10,700 per patient. For a hospital with 200 monitored beds, a 10 percent reduction in rescues and transfers translates into estimated annual savings of $350,000 and $409,000 respectively.
“This study clearly demonstrates that continuously monitoring all patients costs hospital systems less – not more – while solidly debunking the myth that cost remains a barrier to achieving the superior clinical outcomes associated with surveillance monitoring,” said Daniel Cantillon, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Masimo. “We believe these findings may even extend beyond hospitals, to freestanding ERs and ambulatory surgery centers, and encourage institutions to evaluate the potential benefits.”
The Dartmouth-Hitchcock team has been using Masimo continuous monitoring for more than a decade, reporting a 50 percent reduction in unplanned transfers, a 60 percent reduction in rescue events, and zero preventable deaths or brain damage from opioid-induced respiratory depression. A 2022 independent study at a 1,200-bed hospital system in Saudi Arabia confirmed these benefits, also showing lower mortality and improved resuscitative outcomes after deploying Masimo monitoring.
The new financial analysis revealed that uncomplicated hospital stays were associated with average operating gains of more than $2,000 per patient, while cases requiring rescue or transfer resulted in significant losses. By reducing the number of patients needing escalation of care, continuous monitoring helped improve operating margins alongside clinical results.
The authors concluded that universal surveillance monitoring is cost effective and sustainable on an operational basis, with substantial benefits for both patients and hospitals.
