Reducing Sepsis Mortality

The Problem

Severe sepsis is one of the most significant challenges in critical care. Although Stony Brook's sepsis mortality rate of 26.7 percent was below the national average, reducing these deaths became a priority to enhance critical care. Additionally, Margaret Parker, MD, SBUMC's acting chair of the department of medicine and director of the pediatric intensive care unit, was president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine when it joined with other groups to create the international Surviving Sepsis campaign in 2005.

The Solution

In 2006, Stony Brook committed to meeting the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Surviving Sepsis campaign's goals of reducing sepsis mortality by 25 percent by 2009. It also set a goal of achieving a 95 percent compliance rate by May 2009 for adhering to a set of best practices for early recognition and treatment of severe sepsis, also recommended by IHI.