The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Aug. 24 announced the launch of its Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements initiative, a new program to provide hospitals with a blueprint to managing medical emergencies stemming from sepsis.
The development of a multi-disciplinary hospital sepsis program is critical to monitoring and improving the management and outcomes of patients with sepsis.
The Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements include:
- Hospital Leadership Commitment: Dedicating the necessary human, financial, and information technology resources.
- Accountability: Appointing a leader or co-leaders responsible for program goals and outcomes.
- Multi-professional expertise: Engaging key partners throughout the hospital and healthcare system.
- Action: Implementing structures and processes to improve the identification of management of, and recovery from sepsis.
- Tracking: Measuring sepsis epidemiology, management, and outcomes to assess the impact of sepsis initiatives and progress toward program goals.
- Reporting: Providing information on sepsis management and outcomes to relevant partners.
- Education: Providing sepsis education to healthcare professionals, patients, and family/caregivers.
The structure of hospital sepsis programs may be specific to a single hospital or span an entire healthcare system. Likewise, programs may focus on sepsis specifically or may be part of a broader initiative that addresses multiple areas of quality improvement. Regardless of the structure of the hospital sepsis program, it should help healthcare staff improve outcomes from sepsis by aiding in the recognition of sepsis, facilitating the implementation of evidence-based management of sepsis, supporting the recovery of patients after sepsis, and monitoring the impact of hospital-based interventions to improve care and outcomes of sepsis.
For more information on this new initiative, click here.
