ED Is Focus of Reduction in Sepsis-Related Mortality
At Allegheny Health Network, the primary goal was to reduce sepsis-related mortality.1
“With the understanding that most sepsis cases present through the ED, we sought to identify opportunities to improve early recognition and treatment, and ultimately reduce sepsis-related mortality,” says Kathleen M. Latouf, DO, MPM, Allegheny Health Network Emergency Medicine Institute quality officer and medical director of the department of emergency medicine at AHN Wexford Hospital.
Latouf and colleagues formed the ED Sepsis Performance Improvement Team, with a goal of implementing a standardized, systemwide sepsis alert. Since Allegheny spans a large footprint in western Pennsylvania, with a mix of academic, community, and rural hospitals, the sepsis alert had to be personalized for each ED.
“This was accomplished through engagement with the frontline clinicians and nurses at those respective sites. The awareness that local solutions were sometimes best helped with the implementation of this process at other sites,” Latouf says.
One of the biggest lessons learned was complex issues required input from a large multidisciplinary team: Frontline clinicians, nurses, infectious disease specialists, EMS, pharmacy, laboratory director, informatics, data analytics, and an operational excellence coach.
“Our preliminary results suggest that the use of a sepsis alert, in conjunction with nursing protocols and physician order set usage, can improve core measure compliance and improve sepsis-related mortality,” Latouf reports.
REFERENCE
1.Laux L, Campbell T, Latouf KM, et al. Emergency department initiative to improve sepsis core measure compliance: A hospital network approach. Crit Care Nurs Q 2022;45:25-34.
Using a sepsis alert, combined with nursing protocols and physician order set usage, can improve core measure compliance and related mortality rates.
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