History
It took a tragic death to bring AliveSciences to life. In 2003, FlorenceRothman was admitted to a Florida hospital for a routine heart-valve procedure. After her surgery, she seemed to be improving, but soon her health began to decline during in-hospital rehab. She returned to acute care for fve days, then was discharged with home healthcare. Four days later, Florence died from a relatively common and normally treatable complication that went unnoticed and undiagnosed. Florence did not receive substandard care. In fact, she was treated at a top-quality medical facility staffed by highly skilled doctors and nurses. Florence’s medical team missed her diagnosis only because they lacked the tools to identify subtle trends in her health. Had those trends been identifed as they happened, they could have saved Florence’s life. To prevent other patients and their families from going through the same ordeal, Florence’s sons, Michael and Steven Rothman—an engineer and a scientist skilled in data analysis—developed an early-warning system using existing EMR data they named the Rothman Index. Today, Alive Sciences offers this lifesaving patient monitoring index to non-acuto healthcare providers, including continuous care retirement centers, skilled nursing homes, and home healthcare agencies
What Is the Rothman Index?
The Rothman Index is a patented, frst-of-its-kind, early-warning system that uses more than 50 unique healthcare measures from a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR)—including a patient’s vital signs, clinical assessments, and lab results—to create one easy-to-read numerical score. That score, which can be plotted graphically, enables healthcare professionals to spot and react to subtle changes in a patient’s condition before they lead to life-threatening issues.
Rooted in Science
The creators of the Rothman Index have spent years verifying its accuracy. The Index has been tested successfully in numerous healthcare systems. Results have been published in several peer-reviewed medical journals, including 11 articles and more than 12 oral and poster presentations
Why the Rothman Index?
- Easy to Use
- Patented and Peer-Reviewed
- No Additional Work for Staff
- Earlier Detection of Declines
- Encourages Patient Engagement
- Population Management for Risk
- Leads to Better Health Outcomes
Who Can Beneft?
The Rothman score is universal—it can be used to assess patients in any number of non-acute healthcare settings such nursing homes, assisted living communities, and hospice organizations, as well as patients enrolled in home healthcare. The Rothman Index enables organizations to deliver a higher quality of care without having to invest heavily in additional staff, resources, and training. By helping providers detect subtle health declines in patients faster and more easily, the odds of potentially life-threatening medical errors, particularly during hand-offs and shift changes, are reduced.
It can also help avoid unnecessary and costly hospital readmissions, and help healthcare facility staff make smarter decisions regarding patient transfers and discharges.
Professionals and families can also access data in real time via user-friendly iPhone and iPad apps. For families, having a window into their loved one’s real-time condition makes end-of-life decisions easier and less stressful.
