Assessing a population-level policy intervention seeking to avert in-hospital clinical deterioration

The acute clinical deterioration of a hospitalized patient is a troubling event. It either marks an accelerated worsening or is a setback, sometimes fatally so, from a trajectory of clinical stability or recovery. It demands an immediate change in the intensity and complexity of care being provided, and often in a setting not designed for such care coordination. And it places acute strain on the capacity of clinicians and hospitals such that other nearby patients may themselves suffer adversely in a pathologic cascade. All are strong motivators for both earlier recognition of clinical deterioration and effective responses to such warnings that improve outcomes.