BioIntelliSense and UC Davis partner to remotely monitor oncology patients

The initiative will monitor patients hospitalized for bone marrow transplant and hematology as well

BioIntelliSense is a company that has developed the BioButton wearable device, which provides continuous physiological monitoring of vital signs, as a way to ease some of the burden off of burned out healthcare workers.

BioButton implementations are growing across healthcare systems across the US and abroad, including though a strategic partnership with Medtronic Patient Monitoring, a division of Medtronic, which reaches 100 million patients and hospitals and health systems nationwide, as well as a partnership with UC Davis Health that kicked off in 2022.

On Thursday, BioIntelliSense announced a continuation of its UC Davis partnership with the launch of a new in-hospital monitoring initiative for patients hospitalized for bone marrow transplant and hematology/oncology services.

The program leverages the BioButton, along with algorithmic-based data analytics, and its clinical intelligence system, to monitor for subtle changes in vital sign trends and signs of potential patient deterioration for actionable clinical decisions and proactive interventions.

A recent study in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, published this October, demonstrated that use of the BioButton solution resulted in improved clinical management of oncology patients being monitored for severe side effects associated with chemotherapy treatment.

"The BioButton medical grade wearable captures high frequency vital sign trends that allows clinicians to be notified of statistically meaningful signs and symptoms that may indicate a post-procedure infection or complication. Earlier clinical intervention has the potential to improve health outcomes for vulnerable oncology patient populations," Dr. Jim Mault, founder and CEO of BioIntelliSense, told VatorNews.

Founded in 2018, BioIntelliSense’s BioButton wearable devices passively capture up to 1,440 clinically validated vital signs per day, including heart rate at rest, respiratory rate at rest and skin temperature. It can also capture physiologic biometrics, including activity levels, sleep tracking, body position and gait analysis.

Its BioCloud data analytics and algorithmic-based alerting enable actionable clinical triage and proactive clinical intervention through potential earlier detection of adverse trends.

"The ability to passively capture high frequency patient trends and automate vital sign collection, 1,440 sets of vital signs per patient, per day versus episodic spot check measurements, empowers clinicians to better prioritize care and improve workflow efficiencies in today’s challenging staffing environment," said Mault.

Implementing wearable monitoring on the floor can lead to increased nurse satisfaction, decreased complication rate, and fewer ICU transfers, he explained, while remote wearable monitoring of heart rate, respiratory rate, or temperature can result in faster antibiotic administration after evidence of sepsis, shorter hospital LOS, and fewer 30-day readmissions.

"Statistically significant changes in skin temperature, respiratory rate at rest and heart rate at rest can be early indicators of deterioration in a patient’s health condition, including sepsis and other potential infections. When these early changes in condition are caught early, clinicians can intervene sooner to provide care and potentially avoid a health crisis," said Mault.

"For the most vulnerable patients, including those receiving bone marrow transplant and oncology services, early detection is especially critical."

This new collaboration with UC Davis Health is just the first phase of a long-range vision for BioIntelliSense, and the companies already have expansion plans from in-hospital to home that it's planning in the coming months.

"BioIntelliSense and UC Davis Health share a commitment to improving patient outcomes and providing clinicians with best-in-class technologies that deliver better care to more patients at a fraction of the cost," said Mault.