Launching a rapid-response team at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta proved to be easier in concept than in reality, at least initially.

 

  Discussions ebbed and flowed for more than a year, spurred largely by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's commitment to the concept in which clinicians rapidly converge at the bedside of a patient in crisis. But there was an anemic response from doctors and nurses, in part because it was a concept being pushed nationally that didn't seem clinically relevant to them, says Christiane Levine, R.N., quality manager of surgical services at the nonprofit system, which includes three children's hospitals.

 

   That is, until a series of unexpected patient deteriorations—five during a single month in late 2005—shook up clinicians across the system. An extensive analysis was conducted to identify underlying patterns, says Levine, who had joined the quality department shortly before that pivotal month. "We designed the team based on our failure points," she says. Within short order after releasing the findings, the around-the-clock team was operational.

 

  Not everyone shares Levine's enthusiasm for rapid-response teams, though, even as they become nearly ubiquitous at U.S. hospitals. By the end of 2008, nearly 3,000 hospitals had committed to developing a team, according to the most recent data compiled by IHI, which first promoted the concept some six years ago as part of its 100,000 Lives Campaign. They wear various monikers: medical-emergency team, rapid-assessment team, critical care outreach team. Their design can vary significantly from hospital to hospital, and they often evolve over time. Still, they all are striving to resolve a central question: How best to save lives? Contact for complete article