Vega evaluation finds Duke model catches 55% more deterioration events

Vega Health released a retrospective evaluation finding that the Duke Deterioration Index caught 55% more inpatient deterioration events than a widely used vendor model at the same alert rate. The evaluation covered 118,063 patient encounters at five hospitals over two years and was the first assessment of the Duke model outside Duke Health System. With a four-hour pause on repeat alerts, the Duke model required three-quarters fewer alerts to catch the same share of events. Pairing it with NEWS 2, a bedside rules-based score, produced the strongest results. The health system is considering combining the tools for implementation; the findings concern retrospective performance.