Stopping Sepsis, Saving Lives

WellSpan Health decreased mortality rates for sepsis across all of their hospitals, including a decrease of 33% at WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital, by notifying a centralized monitoring team of patients at risk of sepsis. In addition, they achieved 85% sepsis bundle compliance using the Surviving Sepsis Campaign bundle, compared to a national average of around 50%.

WellSpan’s Central Alert Team is notified in Epic when a patient’s lab results and vital signs indicate a risk of sepsis. If the team determines the patient is septic or that an intervention is needed, they contact the patient’s care team to start the sepsis protocol. The notification helps identify patients with sepsis earlier, while the communication between the central alert team and bedside clinicians helps save lives and improve sepsis bundle compliance. Clinicians at the bedside are notified only if they need to act, which reduces alert fatigue.

Read more about WellSpan’s program from Modern Healthcare.