Roundtable No°2: Silent Patient Room - Interoperability is setting new standards
Note: The next roundtable will take place on April 7 under the subject “Digital Inclusion for All: Monitoring and Social Implications” at the IBM iX Studio Berlin. Have we sparked your curiosity? Then you can register here for in-person or online participation!
On March 13, 2025, we came together for the second Patient Monitoring Roundtable of the year to talk in depth about interoperability and the Silent Patient Room. In view of the growing burden of the high number of loud alarms, we discussed how interoperability can help to realize a Silent Patient Room - creating a space where patients can be monitored while optimizing recovery through a quiet environment.
Safer Alarms Tomorrow - A vision and the role of SDC ✨
In her introductory keynote speech, Anne Flint, medical informatics specialist and co-head of the Intelligent Patient Monitoring working group at Charité, highlighted the current challenges in alarm management and outlined a vision for the future:
Context-sensitive, patient-specific alarms through AI and machine learning
Data integration across different devices and manufacturers
Interdisciplinary teams optimize alarm management
In short: an intelligent, networked alarm system that reliably recognizes and prioritizes relevant alarms and classifies them in the clinical context - and this is exactly what the use of SDC (Service-oriented Device Connectivity) is indispensable for!
Keynote by Anne Flint, medical informatics specialist
Hands-On: Interoperability becomes reality at BeST 🤝
During the interactive breakout sessions at the Berlin Simulation and Training Center (BeST), participants were able to directly experience various concepts relating to SDC, interoperability and the Silent Patient Room at different stations:
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In the spirit of interoperability, manufacturers of monitoring technology present various scenarios on how SDC-enabled devices enable bidirectional data transmission
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One station focused on a remote monitoring system that sends data to a central station in real time. This means that critical values are immediately forwarded to the medical staff - without disturbing the patients with an alarm.
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In a third workshop, virtual reality (VR) was used to test targeted alarm transmission via headsets. Intelligent filtering ensures that only relevant alarms reach staff.
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A research group also discussed whether an intensive care unit could perhaps be too quiet and what information an alarm should contain. A central aspect of the discussion: in a silent ICU, the acoustic alarm backdrop could be replaced by sounds that promote healing such as “white noise” or nature sounds, while critical alarms - especially resuscitation alarms - should remain clearly audible throughout the ward.
Take-Home Messages 📝
Reducing acoustic exposure: Noise and alarm flooding impair the quality of care. The Silent Patient Room could be the way to a more pleasant and safer patient environment.
Interoperability is key: An integrated system ensures efficient, error-free and human-centered patient care that supports the work of medical staff without disrupting the patient's healing process.
The collaboration of stakeholders: Technological and human factors must go hand in hand to find the right solutions.
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Become part of the PMRT online community! 🌐
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Thanks and outlook 🚀
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the event with their dedicated input - especially to Anne Flint and Mona Prendke for their valuable expertise and inspiring ideas, and to Philipp Landgraf from BeST for his excellent support as always. And thanks to Sarah Schulze from Berlin Partner, who introduced the plenum to the work of the Berlin-Brandenburg Healthcare Industry Cluster.
The Patient Monitoring Roundtable is organized and conducted by INCH e.V. (Initiative for Innovation and Cooperation in Healthcare) in cooperation with the Institute for Medical Informatics at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.