Introduction: Hospital-onset sepsis is associated with higher mortality than community-onset sepsis and often presents diagnostic and treatment delays in non-critical care hospital settings. Prior studies describing sepsis response teams have primarily focused on emergency department or intensive care unit populations. In 2022, our large academic medical center launched a dedicated Sepsis Emergency Response Team (SERT) to identify and treat early sepsis among patients on hospital wards (HWs).
Methods: To support early identification of sepsis on HWs, we implemented a triage-based system using electronic alerts categorized into three risk levels. This enabled SERT, led by critical care-trained Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), to focus in-person evaluations on high-risk patients while managing high alert volume. Continuous quality reviews informed workflow refinements, while multidisciplinary engagement with nursing, primary teams, rapid response staff, and pharmacy facilitated integration into existing operations. An artificial intelligence tool assisted with editing, clarity, and brevity of existing original content for early drafts of this abstract.
Results: Implementation of SERT revealed several insights. A hybrid detection approach, combining electronic alerts with clinician activation, expanded the program’s reach and identified cases not captured by automated systems. The triage model prioritized clinical resources and standardizing APP bedside evaluation for all patients receiving new antibiotics significantly improved timeliness of care. Dedicated nursing support enhanced detection through proactive rounding and communication with bedside staff. Integration with hospital operations, including dashboards and metric tracking, allowed leadership to monitor progress and drive improvements. Routine event reviews uncovered systemic barriers and supported workflow refinements across service lines.
Conclusions: A dedicated, APP-led sepsis response team operating on HWs can standardize and improve early sepsis care among hospitalized patients. Critical success factors include hybrid detection, iterative quality improvement, and multidisciplinary coordination. This model provides a framework to establish a response team focused on early, ward-based intervention for HW patients with sepsis.
