title: Six health care organizations sign on to participate in project aimed at curbing sepsis mortality.
abstract: Recognizing that sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitalized patients and a huge drain on health care resources, The Joint Commission's Center for Transforming Health Care, is taking aim at the problem in a new project that is already underway. Six participating health care systems are working to develop a targeted solutions tool that Joint Commission members can use to reduce the incidence of sepsis in their own settings. Sepsis is difficult to identify because the signs and symptoms are often subtle, and they mirror the signs and symptoms of other conditions. Many EDs face logistics barriers that can hinder response times. For example, ED physicians in many systems no longer place central lines, a key component of care in serious sepsis cases. Screening tools used to identify sepsis in adults have no validity in children, making identification of sepsis in youngsters particularly difficult.
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology