Observations and recommendations have been developed to improve the impact of clinical alarms on patient safety. Significant findings consisted of 1) recommendations to the medical device industry to greatly improve parameter acquisition accuracy, use "smart" alarm technology, and intelligent alarm systems including appropriate tie-in to IHE, and 2) recommendations to consider ISO/IEC 60601-1-8 alarm standards. From a patient care perspective, clear outcomes of the study included a strong clinical response showing false alarms to be the most significant issue, along with the need to manage alarms through prioritization, training and work processes assessment. Future directions are aimed at awareness, a focused effort towards the reduction of false alarms, and soliciting all constituents involved in clinical alarms to meet and develop action plans to address key issues.

In 2011, a re-survey of the field resulted in an overwhelming national response. The Healthcare Technology Foundation’s survey 2011 National Clinical Alarms Survey resulted in 4278 responders – 93% clinical staff – voicing their perceptions, issues, improvements and priorities about this highly visible, complex patient safety concern. The overall results and recommendations were distributed to the 298 attendees at the AAMI Medical Device Alarms Summit where the Healthcare Technology Foundation was a supporting organization.

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