On Monday, November 4, the Clinical Excellence Sepsis team implemented new care standards for patient care in the emergency department to expedite sepsis care and decrease mortality rates system wide.
Sepsis Medical Director, Dr. Matt Geib, DO, stressed the importance of the work of the Sepsis team. “With Sepsis being a leading killer at NHRMC, it is incredibly important that we continue to make improvements. From implementing predictive models for our in-house patients to enacting a Sepsis Response Team for those patients that arrive in the Emergency Department, these steps will help us save lives.”
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body's response to an infection. The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body's response to these chemicals is out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems. Currently 7% of NHRMC discharges are related to sepsis care, the largest patient population by volume.
The new Emergency Department Code Sepsis care standard will provide timely treatment to patients with the goal of administering antibiotics within 60 minutes of sepsis recognition. The admission pathway will also include evidence based and defined treatment of sepsis patients through the first 24 hours of admission and beyond, helping reduce unwarranted care variations and increasing the value of care delivered. In addition, defined unit placement for admissions has been created to support appropriate patient care and outcomes.
Additional sepsis focused initiatives will be rolled out in the future to continue to support this patient population including an EPIC early recognition tool, feedback process to care teams, discharge and follow-up plans, and new palliative care plans.
Sepsis Team Members:
Matthew, Geib, DO, Physician Lead
Carolyn Brown, PhD, RN, Sepsis Coordinator
Christian Lloyd, MD, Intensivist
Jen Parrotte, ACNP, Intensive Care/Pulmonary
James Epperly, DO, ED Physician
Ryan Karasek, MD, New Hanover Hospitalists
Todd Bibb, MD, New Hanover Hospitalists
Lauren Wilson, MD, Wilmington Health Hospitalists
Charin L. Hanlon, MD, FACP, Medicine – IM
John W. Humrickhouse, MD, Medicine - IM
Monique Goodson, BSN, RN, Emergency Department
Evan Anderson, RN, MICU
Kellie Duval, RN, Administrative Coordinator MICU
Celeste Beal, Senior Application Analyst
Amber Woodard, RN, Epic Analyst
Marianne Billeter, PharmD, Manager Pharmacy
Christine Vayo, MS, RN, Clinical Informaticist
Others have participated not on the team including:
James Bryant RN, Paul Kamitsuka, MD, Ruth Marescalco, RN, Joni Mitchem, RN, James Moon, RN, Steven Nakajima, PharmD, Kevin O’Neil, MD, Gabby Pike, RN, Jen Prekop RN, Jenny Walters, RN, the NHRMC Infectious Disease Team, and New Hanover Regional EMS.