Northwell Health, Henry Ford Health and Corewell Health are making strides in reducing sepsis deaths through one key factor: accountability.
About 3 in 4 U.S. hospitals have a sepsis program, but only 55% dedicate time for a sepsis program leader, according to a Dec. 28 post from the American Medical Association. Investing in a physician leader to take charge and direct multiple specialties in sepsis prevention tactics is crucial, the AMA said.
"This means appointing a sepsis coordinator who oversees day-to-day implementation of hospital sepsis program activities, and fostering collaboration across key hospital locations, such as the emergency department, the hospital wards and the intensive care units," the AMA said. "Teams should include nursing, emergency medicine, critical care, hospital medicine and other primary hospital services, such as infectious disease, pharmacy and social services."
New York City-based Northwell Health, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, and Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.-based Corewell Health all employ sepsis coordinators or appointed leaders to sepsis teams. In the last five years, Northwell has cut its sepsis death rate in half. At Corewell Health West, which includes 11 hospitals, the sepsis mortality rate has stabilized at about 10% — for the past decade, it's been stuck at about 27%.
With a sepsis care team meeting every month since 2008, Houston Methodist Hospital has prevented 2,500 deaths and saved more than $50 million. In the last 15 years, the sepsis death rate has decreased from 35% to 6% because of the hospital's efforts, which include sepsis care leadership embedded into job roles.