HeRO
Trends, hard limits, and alarms have been used for years to signal that a patient is currently deteriorating. HeRO is different. HeRO identifies subtle irregularities in heart rate variability that occur hours and days prior to patient deterioration and provides an early warning of patient distress. And unlike any other monitoring technology available, HeRO has been proven to improve survival (1).
There is a large body of literature demonstrating that delays in antibiotic administration can increase mortality and morbidity (2,3,4,5). Researchers hypothesized that by improving the timing of the diagnosis, HeRO monitoring might improve outcomes for NICU patients. They conducted the largest ever randomized control trial in neonatology, where 3,003 very low birthweight babies were randomized to either receive standard of care, or standard of care plus HeRO.
For patients in the HeRO monitored group, there was at least an 18 hour average difference in the timing of the rise in HeRO score relative to the diagnosis. And if the antibiotics can be started that much earlier, the infection can be nipped in the bud—before it goes systemic. The HeRO monitored group benefitted from a 22% reduction in mortality. And there was no increase in antibiotic usage for healthy babies (6).
HeRO is now available as a bedside monitor, which is available either as a single patient solution with HeRO solo or as a two patient solution with HeRO duet. HeRO solo and HeRO duet have some great features:
- A stand-alone HeRO monitor for 1- or 2- NICU beds.
- Simple to install – 2 power cords and either 1 or 2 monitor connect cables.
- Available with 3 mounting options:
Rolling stand mounted
Wall mounted via a GCX rail
Tabletop mounted on a flat surface. - Intuitive, touchscreen monitor
For more details go to www.heroscore.com
(1) Mortality Reduction by Heart Rate Characteristic Monitoring in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates: A Randomized Trial. Moorman et al. J Pediatrics 2011.
(2) Duration of hypotension before initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy is the critical determinant of survival in human septic shock. Kumar et al. Crit Care Med 2006.
(3) Efficacy of adequate early antibiotic therapy in ventilator-associated pneumonia: influence of disease severity. Clec’h et al. Intensive Care Med 2004.
(4) Outcomes analysis of delayed antibiotic treatment for hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Lodise et al. Clin Infect Dis 2003.
(5) Antibiotic treatment delay and outcome in acute bacterial meningitis. Køster-Rasmussen et al. J Infect 2008.
(6) Septicemia mortality reduction in neonates in a heart rate characteristics monitoring trial. Fairchild et al. Pediatr Res 2013.
