Early identification of sepsis and adherence to treatment bundles may reduce mortality by approximately one third, making surveillance a crucial component of sepsis initiatives1. Unfortunately, traditional electronic surveillance to detect sepsis tends not to work; meta-analysis2 of traditional sepsis alerting studies shows no improvement in mortality, primarily due to poor specificity, resulting in alert fatigue.
Wolters Kluwer’s Point of Care Advisor was created with the express purpose of creating early, accurate, and prescriptive alerting. POCA delivers 99% sensitivity & 98% specificity, and, in a peer-reviewed study, reduced mortality 53%3. Hospitals can identify cases sooner, improving the lives of the patients and potentially blunting the costs associated with hospital-acquired sepsis, mortality, and length of stay.
With sepsis as a leading cause of death in hospitals, there is a significant price tag to cover the cost of care, totaling 13% of U.S. hospital costs4. The average case may cost as much as $70,000 per patient 5 depending on the severity, resulting in millions at risk for a hospital annually.
Wolters Kluwer’s Medical Director of Surveillance, Steve Claypool, M.D. recently presented in a Sepsis Coordinator Network (SCN) Innovation Webinar, and covered how hospitals can: