Sepsis Mortality Rate

Rate of mortality for severe sepsis and/or septic shock patients per 1,000 patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock

Outcome Measure Formula

Numerator: Number of inpatient mortalities for patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock
Denominator: Total number of patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock diagnosis codes that are admitted to the intensive care unit from the emergency department or from an acute floor setting.
*Rate is typically displayed as Mortalities/1,000 Patients 

Metric Recommendations

Direct Impact: All Patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock
Lives Spared Harm:
\(Lives\ =\ \left(Mortality\ Rate_{baseline}\ -\ Mortality\ Rate_{measurement}\right)\ x\ Patients\ _{baseline}\)
*Patientsbaseline: the total number of patients that are counted with the diagnosis of severe sepsis and/or septic shock

Notes: 

Patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock are determined by the following ICD9 diagnosis codes: 995.92 (Severe Sepsis) and 785.52 (Septic Shock). Additionally, patients must be admitted to the intensive care unit from the emergency department or from an acute floor setting. If feasible, manual review of diagnosis codes is desirable due to the complex nature of sepsis. 

Data Collection:  

Data may be pulled from electronic billing data with the above diagnosis codes. Additionally, data may be collected exclusively through manual chart review, or a hybrid method of chart review and electronic billing data.