KelaHealth delivers patient-specific predictive insight and risk stratification software to help improve surgical quality and prevent complications. With support from Duke University and Acelity/KCI, KelaHealth designed and conducted a retrospective study to assess the efficacy of a risk-based intervention strategy compared to the standard physician subjective assessment.

In a continual effort to improve the quality of care, Duke Health identified the need to decrease rates of surgical site infections (SSI) within its vascular surgery department. With SSI costing hospitals an additional $10,497 per occurrence, optimizing intervention recommendations to improve care and manage its financial impact was critical. 

Applying sterile dressing to the surgical site (SD), with regular dressing change when soiled, has been the standard intervention for keeping any surgical incision clean. However, there is no clear evidence to suggest that one dressing type was better than any other nor that covering wounds reduced the risk of surgical site infection. Due to concern for unacceptable SSI event rates, the vascular surgery department began adopting negative pressure therapy on a closed incision (ciNPT). This device is highly effective in preventing infection. 

An individual surgeon's assessment of patient of high risk drove the decision to apply the ciNPT intervention (cost estimate: $495/unit) over the sterile dressings (cost estimate: negligible). A part of this decision, as reported, was also surgeon preference for use of the ciNPT device.

Duke Health sought an objective, risk-based stratification platform to appropriately target high-acuity versus standard interventions. Their goal was to use the power of AI to improve clinical outcomes and financial savings for its patients. 

Using the KelaHealth surgical intelligence engine, the rate of surgical site infections and estimated costs improved. Kelahealth could produce an estimated 41.3% reduction of SSI events and a 26.0% reduction in care costs. 

See how KelaHealth is helping hospitals meet their value-based care initiatives. Read our hospital case studies here.

You can find the study, recently published and featured on the cover of the Journal of Surgical Research here.

Want to learn how KelaHealth can help with your value-based care initiatives? Book a demo with our team here.