For immediate release:
Acuity Behavioral Health Completes Initial Product Validation
Acuity Behavioral Health’s proprietary patient acuity and workload measurement model, the BHAI, is validated for system accuracy and nurse staffing.
Greensboro, NC, May 13th, 2024–Acuity Behavioral Health is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed Phase I validation of the Company’s product, the BHAI. Drawing directly from patient data and incorporating the real time inputs from nursing staff, the BHAI is a transformative care model for inpatient psychiatric operations providing both an individual score of patient acuity and an aggregated psychiatric unit acuity score on a 1-100 scale. The BHAI provides a transparent patient classification designed to align patient needs more precisely with nursing staff competencies and accurately project next-day allocation of staff among and within psychiatric units.
The Phase I validation study was designed to assess the accuracy of the BHAI in projecting day-ahead intervention levels. In a study comprised of over 9,000 patient records, the BHAI precisely projected day-ahead (T+1) intervention levels 67% of the time and was deemed close or very close over 97% of the time. Both percentages were cited with a 99% statistical level of confidence.
The Phase I validation study was also tasked to assess the importance of the nurse input in the determination of the patient acuity score. The study confirmed that nurse qualitative input was a valuable component in calculating variations in the patient’s acuity. Nurses’ direct inputs, normally occurring during shift changes, accounted for over 40% of the variation in patient scores. This data underscores the significance of weighting their qualitative input with the quantitative data pulled from the patient record in an accurate algorithmic calculation of a dynamic patient acuity scoring solution.
“We are pleased to have completed the initial Phase 1 data validation, and excited that the results confirm statistically the high levels of validity and reliability that we were anticipating”, according to Jim Szyperski, Acuity Health’s CEO. “It is the first step in our objective to not only measure, but to accurately predict a patient’s acuity score, and to use that scoring to impact clinical and operational decisions including more efficient staff assignments, reducing the number of safety incidents, improving staff retention, and supplying quantitative data results for use in provider-payor negotiations. We believe these are essential steps to driving real parity for behavioral healthcare. We will continue to fine tune our processes and rigor to stay current with technology capabilities and provide the most scientifically valid information to our customers.”
About Acuity Behavioral Health: Acuity Behavioral Health was created to improve the quality of care in inpatient psychiatric settings. Our product, (the BHAI), was created by our nation's leading behavioral health systems and clinical experts to provide a rapid and accurate measure of patient acuity within inpatient settings. The BHAI was developed in the absence of any accepted Patient Classification System (PCS) to improve patient care, reduce safety risks, and to address the increasingly acute status of mental health patients.
To learn more, please visit www.acuitybh.com or contact us at info@acuitybh.com .