Huddle for the Heart

Monday, March 23, 2026

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Central Time

Location: Connections Central - RST 11

Rose Mulcahy, RN, BSN, PCCN (she/her/hers)

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose.
TG

Tami Garcia, MSN, RN

Sepsis Team Manager
University of Michigan

Disclosure information not submitted.
CR

Carly Redstone, MSN, RN

University of Michigan

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose.
NL

Natali Lagasse, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, CCRN-K

Clinical Nurse Specialist
University of Michigan

Disclosure information not submitted.
AS

Adam Stein, MD

Clinical Assistant Profession of Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Michigan Health

Disclosure information not submitted.
JK

Jessie King, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
University of Michigan

Disclosure information not submitted.
KL

Kelly Laird, MD (he/him/his)

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose.
JM

Joseph Mauch, MD

Resident Physician
University of Michigan

Disclosure information not submitted.
ET

Emily Terrebonne, MD

Resident Physician
University of Michigan

Disclosure information not submitted.
EM

Elizabeth Munroe, MD, MSc

Intermountain Health Care

Disclosure information not submitted.
SK

Scott Ketcham, MD

Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine Fellow
University of Michigan Health

Disclosure information not submitted.

Introduction: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death among adult inpatients. Timely implementation of “sepsis bundle” elements (measuring lactate, obtaining blood cultures, administering antibiotics, and providing intravenous fluids) improves outcomes in sepsis. However, bundle compliance is low on our adult inpatient cardiology service, where diagnostic uncertainty is high and fluid administration may be avoided due to concerns about volume overload. We introduced a bedside “Sepsis Huddle” to improve bundle compliance in this setting.

Methods: From March-May 2025, a multidisciplinary team consisting of nurses, physicians, and software engineers developed and provided education for a cardiology-specific “Sepsis Huddle” protocol featuring automated alerts and paging to prompt bedside evaluation when sepsis is suspected. The intervention was launched on June 2, 2025, across three adult cardiology units. We performed a pre-/postintervention retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to this service identified as having sepsis by ICD-10 code or by Center for Medicare Services criteria (receipt of 4 days of qualifying antibiotics, collection of blood cultures, and evidence of end-organ dysfunction). Data included demographics, compliance with sepsis bundle components, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. Artificial intelligence was used to proof this abstract.

Results: Compared with the preintervention cohort (N=85, 1/1/2023-12/31/2024), the postintervention cohort (N=8, 6/2/2025-7/23/2025) had numerically higher sepsis bundle compliance (37.5% vs 11.8%) and individual bundle element compliance (lactate 75.0% vs 49.4%, blood cultures 62.5% vs 50.6%, antibiotics 62.5% vs 58.8%, intravenous fluids 50% vs 0%). In-hospital mortality (25.0% vs 25.9%) and average hospital length of stay (29.8 days vs 24.9 days) were similar. Small sample size limits statistical analysis.

Conclusions: Implementation of a unique “Sepsis Huddle” on an inpatient cardiology service at a tertiary academic medical center resulted in a three-fold improvement in sepsis bundle compliance. Greater sample size is required for further statistical analysis, particularly related to patient outcomes.