Sepsis Clinical Decision Support Tool Saves 20 Lives in 6 Months at Saint Luke’s Health System
October 8, 2018Article by Bill Siwicki, Healthcare IT News
This case study examines the Redivus Health platform that helped identify 150 percent more sepsis patients, decreased mortality by 30 percent, and correctly identified and treated sepsis, increasing billing income by $70,000 per month.
CASE STUDY
Saint Luke’s Health System is an 11-hospital network based in Kansas City, Mo., that accepts transfer patients from various rural and community-based hospitals throughout the area. Saint Luke’s noticed increased mortality from sepsis among transfer patients due to this time-sensitive and deadly condition not being diagnosed early enough.
With multiple hospitals using multiple EHR technologies sending patients into the Saint Luke’s system, it created an information black hole for these sepsis patients. This inevitably led to missteps of care collaboration and coordination.
“Quick identification of sepsis is a challenge to even the most experienced clinician,” said Joann Paul, vice president of quality and patient safety at Saint Luke’s Health System. “The early signs are often subtle, mimic other conditions, and are very easily lost when transferring a patient. Our goal is to very quickly identify sepsis, treat it rapidly using evidenced-based protocols, and ultimately save lives.”
PROPOSAL
Saint Luke’s worked with Redivus Health to implement a sepsis management screening program that operated outside the EHR to proactively address this problem. The nurse transfer team began using the Redivus clinical decision support platform in 2017. The goals of the pilot program were to identify sepsis patients at the transferring facilities, start treatment sooner and improve patient outcomes.
The clinical decision support platform enabled transfer nurses to identify significantly more (200+) sepsis cases by providing simple intuitive guidance, and it allowed for patients to receive time-critical treatment before being transported to a higher level of care.
