Nihon Kohden launches AlarmSense to address alarm fatigue in hospitals

AlarmSense aims to reduce alarm fatigue: ©Sudok1 -stock.adobe.com

Nihon Kohden, a global medical device maker, has launched AlarmSense, a new analytics platform designed to help hospitals combat alarm fatigue by streamlining response management and turning overwhelming alerts into actionable insights.

Alarm fatigue remains a widespread challenge in health care, with nurses spending more than a third of their shift responding to alarms—most of which do not require clinical intervention. Studies suggest that 99% of alarms trigger no meaningful action, yet the interruptions contribute to clinician burnout, turnover and decreased patient satisfaction. Even a 1% increase in nurse turnover can cost hospitals an estimated $260,000 annually.

AlarmSense aggregates alarm data across hospital units and analyzes up to 90 days of historical trends, allowing clinical teams to identify patterns, normalize outlier events, and tailor response strategies. The system also provides dashboards to categorize notifications, simulate changes before implementing them and ultimately reduce unnecessary interruptions.

“Alarm fatigue is not just an operational issue—it’s a daily strain that takes clinicians away from patients,” said Emily Sego, Clinical Healthcare Executive at Nihon Kohden America. “Our teams worked hand-in-hand with nurses and frontline staff whose voices shaped every stage of AlarmSense’s development.”

Roy Sakai, president of Nihon Kohden America, said the platform is designed to cut through the noise, improve patient safety and support staff well-being. The solution is available in varying levels of support, ranging from consulting and dashboard deployment to full-suite optimization.

Alarm fatigue and efforts to address it

The issue of alarm fatigue has become a growing concern as hospitals continue to rely on advanced monitoring devices and electronic health systems. While these tools are designed to improve patient safety by detecting abnormalities in real time, they also generate a high volume of alerts, many of which are false or clinically insignificant.

Research has shown that excessive alarms can desensitize staff, delay response times and in some cases even cause critical warnings to be missed. This not only increases the risk of adverse events for patients but also heightens stress levels among clinicians already working in demanding environments.

Health care organizations have been exploring a range of strategies to address the problem. Some hospitals have implemented “alarm committees” to evaluate alert thresholds and make system-wide adjustments. Others are testing predictive analytics and machine learning tools to differentiate between critical alerts and low-priority notifications. Training and workflow redesign are also being used to help staff respond more efficiently without overwhelming them.

As the U.S. grapples with nursing shortages and rising turnover rates, reducing alarm fatigue has taken on added urgency. By minimizing unnecessary disruptions and making alarms more actionable, hospitals hope to improve patient safety, preserve staff morale and create more sustainable care environments.