Stephen Claypool, M.D., is Vice President of Clinical Development & Informatics, Clinical Solutions, with Wolters Kluwer Health and Medical Director of its Innovation Lab. He can be reached at steve.claypool@wolterskluwer.com.
Three-week-old Jose Carlos Romero-Herrera was rushed to the ER, lethargic and unresponsive with a fever of 102.3. His mother watched helplessly as doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and assorted other clinicians frantically worked to determine what was wrong with an infant who just 24 hours earlier had been healthy and happy.
Hours later, Jose was transferred to the PICU where his heart rate remained extremely high and his blood pressure dangerously low. He was intubated and on a ventilator. Seizures started. Blood, platelets, plasma, IVs, and multiple antibiotics were given. Still, Jose hovered near death.
CT scans, hourly blood draws and EEGs brought no answers. Despite all the data and knowledge available to the clinical team fighting for Jose’s life, it was two days before the word “sepsis” was uttered. By then, his tiny body was in septic shock. It had swelled to four times the normal size. The baby was switched from a ventilator to an oscillator. He received approximately 16 different IV antibiotics, along with platelets, blood, plasma, seizure medications and diuretics.
“My husband and I were overwhelmed at the equipment in the room for such a tiny little person. We were still in shock about how we’d just sat there and enjoyed him a few hours ago and now were being told that we may not be bringing him back home with us,” writes Jose’s mother, Edna, who shared the story of her baby’s 30-day ordeal as part of the Sepsis Alliance’s “Faces of Sepsis” series.
Jose ultimately survived. Many do not. Three-year-old Ivy Hayes went into septic shock and died after being sent home from the ER with antibiotics for a UTI. Larry Przybylski’s mother died just days after complaining of a “chill” that she suspected was nothing more than a 24-hour bug.
Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming, often-fatal immune response to infection. Worldwide, there are an estimated 8 million deaths from sepsis, including 750,000 in the U.S. At $20 billion annually, sepsis is the single most expensive condition treated in U.S. hospitals.
Hampering Efforts to Fight Sepsis
Two overarching issues hamper efforts to drive down sepsis mortality and severity rates.
First, awareness among the general population is surprisingly low. A recent study conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Sepsis Alliance found that just 44% of Americans had ever even heard of sepsis.
Second, the initial presentation of sepsis can be subtle and its common signs and symptoms are shared by multiple other illnesses. Therefore, along with clinical acumen, early detection requires the ability to integrate and track multiple data points from multiple sources—something many hospitals cannot deliver due to disparate systems and siloed data.
While the Sepsis Alliance focuses on awareness through campaigns including Faces of Sepsis and Sepsis Awareness Month, hospitals and health IT firms are focused on reducing rates by arming clinicians with the …read more
Source:: http://www.emrandhipaa.com/guest/2015/01/26/speeding-sepsis-response-by-integrating-key-technology/
