How to Successfully Monitor Sepsis

A sepsis surveillance system is available at the point of care facility. It is a real time system that integrates successfully clinical decision support and clinical workflow. Sepsis surveillance systems monitor constantly the physiological data of a patient, and the system can deliver certain alerts to the medical team within minutes after activation. The sepsis screening generally starts whenever a patient comes to the emergency room or when he/she is admitted to a hospital. These systems will run on a continuous basis, up until the patient is discharged from the medical facility.

The identification of patients exposed to the risk of sepsis is a continuous challenge among medical providers. Reliable alerts from the sepsis surveillance systems will successfully reduce the cry-wolf effect (such as response delays or ignoring alert notifications). It is important to mention that there is no single diagnostic tool or a certain test that can indicate clearly the presence of sepsis. It takes a careful review of several lab tests and blood work tests in order to be able to tell if the patient is at high risk for developing sepsis.

Sepsis is a condition where the patient develops an infection and then the immune system will overreact to this infection. In case the sepsis is not managed in a timely manner, septic shock can happen which in turn leads to organ malfunctioning (such as heart failure, liver failure, etc.). Patients most exposed to sepsis are the ones in intensive care units. According to statistics in the medial field, up to 20% of the 70% of those admitted to intensive care will develop septic shock that ultimately leads to death.

This is why sepsis surveillance systems are so important in a hospital setting- these help the medical staff intervene in time and make this intervention in the most appropriate manner based on the given alerts and notifications. The process of reviewing medical charts, blood work, tests, and testing other bodily functions (blood pressure, temperature, etc.) can be extremely time- consuming. Proper sepsis surveillance systems will offer a better patient management platform for those exposed to the risk of sepsis (whether in intensive care units or not).