Advancing Intensive Care Unit Early Mobility Measurement, Practice and Outcomes: The Out-of-Bed Index

ICU early mobility improves some patient outcomes, yet practice adoption remains inconsistent owing in part to variable terminology, documentation and measurement. This article describes a decade-long learning health system approach to the study and practice of ICU early mobility measurement, leading to the development of the Out-of-Bed Mobility Eligible Index (OOB-E Index), an automated metric quantifying the frequency of out-of-bed events per mobility-eligible ICU day. Integrated into a mobility dashboard alongside other key metrics, the OOB-E Index supports supports standardized assessment, benchmarking and quality improvement. Measuring the OOB-E Index may enable more effective timing and dosing of ICU mobility.