Early-warning system for sepsis saves lives at University of Missouri Health Care

Benjamin Wax, senior clinical informaticist at Cerner, and Dr. Tom Selva, CMIO for the University of Missouri, spoke at HIMSS22.

Photo: Susan Morse/HFN

The use of algorithms has saved lives at the University of Missouri Health Care.

The health system put in place an early-warning system tied to the EHR to alert rapid-response teams of a patient's risk for developing sepsis, a life-threatening infection.

One of every three patients who dies in the hospital has sepsis, according to information given at the HIMSS22 session, "Saving Lives with the NEWS Algorithm: Using Early Detection and Rapid Response." Every hour, the condition goes untreated increases a patient's mortality risk by 4%. 

The move to faster response started when the hospital system received unacceptable star ratings, said Bryan Bliven, CIO, University of Missouri Health Care. Teams looked at the metrics and drivers, and then, made changes. 

"Sepsis was one; it was not alerting soon enough," Bliven said. 

Bliven worked with Dr. Tom Selva, CMIO for the University of Missouri, and Benjamin Wax, senior clinical informaticist at Cerner.

They scored clinical indicators, such as pulse rate and respiration rate, and put that into a scoring system called the national early-warning score, or NEWS, to determine whether physicians need to take a closer look at a patient, Selva said. 

It's not a new scoring system, and it wasn't originally developed for sepsis. 

What has made the difference is getting information in front of the staff through the EHR, for a rapid response team – the Tiger Team – to be called.

Currently, sepsis is usually detected later when there is a decline in health, Wax said.

Nine lives were saved during the pilot from March through May 2019, and within months, 15 lives were saved, a number that has increased to 60 since the program became live.

This work has been part of an overall integration working on a quality-improvement process. The University of Missouri Health Care won a Davies award for its long-term sustained outcomes.

The HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence showcases healthcare organizations that demonstrate globally innovative, thoughtful applications of information and technology to drive and redefine evidence-based best practices so that others can learn, adapt and improve population health and patient outcomes.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org