Systematic review of physiologic monitor alarm characteristics and pragmatic interventions to reduce alarm frequency.

Paine CW, Goel VV, Ely E, et al. J Hosp Med. 2015 Dec 14; [Epub ahead of print].

Alarm safety is now a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal. This systematic review analyzed 24 studies on alarm characteristics and 8 studies that evaluated interventions to improve alert fatigue. The vast majority of the time, alarms do not signal problems that require clinician action. The most promising intervention strategies for reducing alarms that have emerged thus far are widening alarm parameters, implementing alarm delays, and frequently changing telemetry electrodes and wires.