Sepsis Survivors Hospital Readmission Rates
Background
Hospital readmissions are common and have far reaching human and financial implications. Little is known about hospital readmission rates following sepsis episodes, as well as risk factors predisposing sepsis survivors to readmission and costs.
Existing data consists of individual studies and literature reviews. Consistencies in this data includes:
- Includes any hospitalization diagnosis of sepsis
- Typically includes SIRS criteria, loosely defined infection and organ dysfunction
- ICD-9 codes for sepsis
- Readmission is due to any causes
Differences between the data consists of:
- Time from discharge to readmission endpoint ranges from 30 days, 90 days, 180 days, 365 days
- Details in median readmission times missing
- If readmission was due to a repeat case of sepsis
- If readmission was due to ongoing disease state or new disease state
Results
Conclusions
- Limited data in sepsis patients indicates:
- Mortality in sepsis readmission patients is higher (21.2%) than non-sepsis readmission patients (10.5%)
- Overall readmission rates increase over time and comparable to non-sepsis readmission rates
- Limited data exists on evaluating readmission of sepsis survivors due to another sepsis episode.
- Insufficient data to determine if readmission is due to an unresolved sepsis episode or a new sepsis episode
- Lack of severity determinations of disease makes comparison between studies difficult
- Most data identified from administrative ICD-9 data as opposed to clinical data
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Erkan Hassan is the Co-Founder & Chief Clinical Officer of Sepsis Program Optimization where he designs & oversees the implementation of solutions to optimize sepsis programs.
To discuss your organization’s Barriers of Effective Sepsis Care, contact Erkan by phone (844) 4SEPSIS (844-473-7747), email (erkan@spo.icu), or video chat.
