To improve ease of use and help clinical staff focus on patients most at risk, Vasc-Alert worked with nephrologists and an epidemiologist to identify the critical factors that predict an access complication and how they each can be combined into an overall assessment of risk.
Vasc-Alert pressure calculations are presented in a graphic format showing trends over time. These results can also be quantified. For example, for the venous pressure, the number of alerts over time indicates the density of alerts, the average pressure over time relates to the severity, and the rate of change is the calculated slope. These three factors along with the average arterial pressure and a blood flow metric are each predictive of a pending access event.
Using data from over 1.5 million treatments and 20,000 interventions, a multivariate regression process assessed each factor’s contribution to an overall risk score. These risk factors are calculated for each treatment and combined into an overall risk assessment, presented as a simple 1 to 10 score, with 10 indicating the highest degree of risk.
The advantage of a quantified risk factor is that it helps facility staff focus on the patients that need to be considered for referral first. It also allows for an objective assessment of the overall state of vascular access management at a given facility, allowing management to monitor progress.
