Improving Outcomes for Sepsis Patients

A national study co-authored by Hunter College professors Partha Deb and Hoda Nouri Khajavi looks to drastically improve outcomes for sepsis patients. The study, a joint effort by the Center for Home Care Policy & Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, finds that sepsis patients who are discharged from the hospital and receive early intervention follow up treatment fare much better than patients who receive no such post-hospital care, and that readmission rates decrease when follow up care is provided. Communication between care providers, as well as proactive follow-up initiatives and early attention from physicians, is key, according to the study’s results. Unfortunately, only 28.1% of sepsis survivors receive the kind of integrated post-discharge care that proves beneficial, so there are great potential benefits to be gleaned from a national adjustment of protocols.