Harnessing the Electronic Medical Record to Identify Patients at Risk for In-Hospital Complications

METHODS: Inpatient general surgery procedures with NSQIP data from 2013 and 2014 were matched with enterprise data on vital signs and neurologic status to calculate the EWS for each postoperative vital set measured on the ward. Outcomes of complications, ICU transfer, and medical emergency team (MET) activation were classified using the Clavien system as grade I to IV. Relationship between EWS and timing of first complication was assessed using Kruskal-Wallis test and linear regression accounting for clustering with generalized estimating equation.