American Addiction Centers (AAC) is taking patient safety to a new level in the addiction industry as the first treatment provider to utilize EarlySense™ technology during detox. This potentially life-saving technology provides medical staff with real-time data to identify irregular vital signs which is crucial for patient safety in the detox phase of treatment. Over the next few months, American Addiction Centers, which owns and operates more than 30 treatment facilities in the U.S., will implement this cutting-edge technology as a standard of care at all of its facilities with detox services.

“As a leader in the industry, it was important for us to not only find a solution that would help us meet our long-term patient safety initiatives as a company, but also pave the way for addiction treatment providers at large,” said American Addiction Centers’ CEO, Michael Cartwright. “Detox is such a critical point in a patient’s recovery journey, but it is often met with unforeseen clinical challenges. With EarlySense, our medical staff is alert and ready to intervene at all times giving our patients and their loved ones peace-of-mind.”

The FDA-cleared patient monitoring system uses a sensor placed beneath the mattress to continuously tracks the patient’s heart rate, breathing patterns and movements without attaching any wires to the patient. Concerning changes, such as irregular heart beats or breathing patterns and sudden movements, will immediately distribute real-time alerts to a central nursing hub, tablets, and mobile devices, providing nurses with ample time to proactively respond.

“Withdrawal is one of the most dangerous steps in the recovery process and can be deadly in some cases due to the severity of its symptoms,” said Dr. Mark Calarco, national medical director of American Addiction Centers. “That said, it’s imperative that patients in detox are under close supervision. EarlySense monitoring enables our clinicians to consistently monitor those in detox and identify early signs of patient deterioration, likely to happen during withdrawal, especially late at night, controlling these high-risk situations before they escalate.”

Nursing staff are also able to customize each patient’s monitor and alerts allowing for completely personalized care and better response times, while also minimizing false alarms.

“This partnership represents an expansion of the clinical utilization of the EarlySense system to assist clinicians in providing the highest level of care as patients begin the process of addiction recovery,” said Tim O’Malley, president of EarlySense Inc. “In the United States we continue to see the toll that addiction has on patients and their families, and the staggering number of lives impacted each day. Partnering with American Addiction Centers, with their holistic approach to recovery, is a great fit with EarlySense and our desire to provide proactive, continuous monitoring in an effort to prevent adverse events. We continue to see the value of advanced monitoring solutions outside of the hospital environment. This is a great example where a new frontier of addiction centers under the leadership of American Addiction Centers becomes an area for advanced monitoring and analytics.”

The technology was first introduced at AAC’s Southern California facility, Laguna Treatment Hospital which frequently treats patients in need of higher levels of care.

"On multiple occasions, EarlySense has detected abnormal vital signs while the patient was resting in bed identifying various diagnosis such as pneumonia, respiratory distress, and countless others,” said Mertis Shearry, director of nursing at Laguna Treatment Hospital. “Patients and loved ones can be certain that with the help of this technology, nursing staff are ready to provide early medical interventions if needed.”

EarlySense is also available at two other AAC facilities - River Oaks Treatment Center and Recovery First.

“Ultimately, our goal is to revolutionize the treatment of addiction and transform lives in the process,” said Cartwright. “By investing in the EarlySense technology company-wide, we are one step closer toward reaching that goal.”