Benjamin Wax RN, BSN is a Senior Clinical Informaticists with the Tiger Institute.  He graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has experience with Emergency and Critical Care nursing.   In addition to currently managing the sepsis and rapid response solutions for both adults and pediatrics, Benjamin is responsible for all aspects of inpatient nursing documentation at the University of Missouri and nursing-related clinical decision support.

In 2017 while working as an emergency department nursing supervisor at MU Health Care, Benjamin wrote a proposal requesting the implementation of a rapid response solution. Prior to the implementation of the solution, Benjamin joined the Cerner team and remained engaged at the client site. He continued to push for the implementation of the rapid response solution as well as the utilization of the NEWS algorithm. NEWS is a National Early Warning Score that detects deterioration in a patient’s physiology. Benjamin envisioned utilizing the St. John’s Sepsis algorithm, along with the NEWS to strengthen the rapid response solution’s capabilities. It took almost 5 years of driving the project through competing priorities, mathematical calculations, and monitoring data as the algorithms ran in the background for 2 years. Teams configured Cerner solutions to automatically calculate each patient's NEWS and to help care teams follow MU Health Care’s NEWS-driven nursing protocol. MU Health Care teams analyzed historical patients’ scores to identify when patients typically require RRT intervention or transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU). Guided by those thresholds, they developed an algorithm and a NEWS-driven nursing protocol to help caregivers act appropriately based on the patient’s status and location within the hospital.

It is obvious that such an endeavor is the result of many dedicated teams. Teams who needed a leader – a leader to nurture the process and to not give up. Benjamin was that nurse leader. He had a vision and understood the potential impact and continued to push until there was a go-live. In the initial study comparing actual sepsis mortality to projections based on pre-implementation mortality rates, MU Health Care estimates NEWS and NEWS-driven nursing protocol helped avoid 12 sepsis-related deaths in nine months. University Hospital’s mortality index — a ratio of observed deaths to expected deaths, given the severity of septic patients’ primary diagnoses and comorbidities — dropped 22% during that time. Since the implementation in the adult population, the teams created a NEWS-driven nursing protocol for the pediatric population to further the utilization of the tools.

Benjamin has promoted the work in multiple industry presentations including a presentation to the HIMSS Davies committee. This case study, along with two others from MU Health led the organization to their second HIMSS Davies Award. MU Health Care is one of only nine organizations worldwide to achieve the prestigious Davies Award for a second time. Benjamin has also been invited to present the work at the HIMSS National Conference in 2022. Most recently, he presented to the Cerner Monthly Nursing Community call. He is always willing to take the time to share the success story and the lessons learned. Leadership, dedication, and a collaborative skill set are key qualities of a DAISY Nurse. Benjamin drove this project, and others, showing the strength in healthcare informatics. Benjamin’s passion for improving the outcomes and safety of all patients is evident every time he shares this accomplishment.