With SmartCare/PS, a Dräger Medical system designed for weaning ICU patients from artificial ventilation, more than 600 million euros could be saved each year in Germany alone.
In a study that Professor Kraft carried out together with the corporate consulting company Droege and Co and the industrial association Spectaris, he identified ten innovations that could contribute savings of millions of euros annually to the German healthcare system.
The authors of the study concluded that more than 50% of all patients in the ICU are artificially ventilated. Treating these patients is often protracted and expensive. In particular, weaning the patient from the ventilator through a manual, incremental reduction of the ventilation pressures at the device is extremely time-consuming and risky for the patient.
SmartCare/PS, based on clinical protocols, is integrated in the Dräger EvitaXL ventilator and performs this process automatically. According to the study, savings are realised mainly by reducing the patient’s hospital stay by approximately 2.6 days and avoiding otherwise necessary medication and supplies valued at 2,000 euros per case.
The study is published in German and can be obtained via: www.deutsche-medizintechnik.de
