Medicine Grand Rounds, Tina Schade Willis, “Code Sepsis: Current Evidence Based Guidelines and CMS Core Measure”

Because of the prevalence, seriousness, and treatability of sepsis, UNC Hospitals launched Code Sepsis, an initiative that aims to implement reliable screening for early detection of sepsis, educate multidisciplinary teams in evidence-based therapies, and standardize tools and treatment bundles for our specific patient populations.

Most patients and their families have never heard of sepsis, a condition that kills more people every year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS combined. Studies show that when health-care providers promptly recognize sepsis and treat it by immediately administering antibiotics and fluids, survivorship increases by 50%. Although sepsis most often occurs in the elderly, the young, and those with chronic diseases such as cancer or liver disease, sepsis can affect perfectly healthy people of all ages. Every year, in fact, more than 1.6 million Americans develop sepsis during hospitalization, and nearly a quarter-million of those die from sepsis-related complications. A majority of sepsis survivors who are discharged are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of leaving.

The important information delivered through this lecture will help our health-care providers better understand sepsis, the current progress of the initiative, and access to the tools and training materials that are being tested or implemented as part of the initiative.

Tina Schade Willis, MD, is Professor of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Associate CMO for Quality at UNC Hospitals, and Director of the UNC Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement. Her academic focus includes system designs that reduce variation and cycle times leading to improved patient care, efficiency, and satisfaction. She is an expert in high performance team training, performance improvement study design, analysis, and management.