Early Warning System for Clinical Deterioration on General Hospital Wards

The goal is to develop a two-tiered monitoring system to improve the care of patients at risk for clinical deterioration on general hospital wards (GHWs) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJH). The investigators hypothesize that the use of an automated early warning system (EWS) that identifies patients at risk of clinical deterioration, with notification of nurses on the GHWs when patients are identified, will reduce the risk of ICU transfer or death within 24 hrs of an alert. As a substudy, the investigators will pilot the use of a wireless pulse oximeter to establish feasibility and to develop algorithms for a real-time event detection system (RDS) in these high-risk patients.