Mapping Patient Flow to Better Manage Severe Hospital Infections and Sepsis

Industries Profiled:
Biotech; Pharmaceutical; Medical Device; Health Care; Chemical


Companies Profiled:
Amgen; AstraZeneca; Baxter Healthcare; Cooper Health System; Eli Lilly; Genentech; GlaxoSmithKline; Memorial Hospital; North Shore University Hospital; Pfizer; Pharmacia; University of Pennsylvania Medical Center; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Yale-New Haven Hospital

Study Snapshot

Mapping Patient Flow to Better Manage Severe Hospital Infections and Sepsis provides organizations involved in the healthcare industry with insight into the management of patients with severe infections, and specifically the infection response known as sepsis at six leading academic medical centers. Chapters cover how and where patients commonly acquire severe infections and sepsis and their common movements through the hospital to identify care improvement opportunities.

The report, 44 pages—including an integrated map showing the common patient pathways across all centers—is based on in-depth interviews with leading physicians at six leading U.S. academic medical centers. It contains 19 graphics and 24 expert narratives, making it an accessible, yet rich resource. For example, snapshots are offered with information on each medical center such as average lengths of stay for each phase of care.

Key Findings

Best Practices LLC identified several key findings after analyzing the patient flow in six leading academic medical facilities. A sample of key findings include:

• When it comes to dealing with sepsis, like many infections, time is essential and progression unpredictable. Physicians recognize that successful sepsis treatment must be rapid – provided within a matter of hours not days. Treatment must also be sensitive to the unpredictable nature of the disease. Physicians emphasized the importance of monitoring on the floors and in the ED, recognition of early signs of the disease, and taking quick action to reduce the likelihood of progression. They also advocated the development of patient risk profiles to identify those most prone to infection, creating treatment algorithms, obtaining patient records, starting antibiotic therapy, processing diagnostic tests more rapidly, and procuring consultations from ancillary specialists.
• Sepsis patients are found everywhere, and moved everywhere. Sepsis is found in all areas of the hospital and patients arrive from many different outside sources, particularly nursing homes and extended care facilities. Within the hospital, patients are moved from one area to the next frequently with large amounts of waiting time between moves (i.e. from ED to floors to ICU).

One interesting finding is that a sepsis patient can remain in the ED anywhere from 4 to 24 hours. The extended duration in the ED is either a function of bed availability or the need for emergency care. At these leading hospitals, the medical equipment and treatment options are comparable in the ICU and the ED, but staffing levels are different. Nursing ratios are higher in the ICU to watch patients more closely. Some interviewed physicians noted, though, that in the ED attending physicians are on duty at night, while the ICU is more likely to be staffed by residents or interns after regular working hours.

• Project Methodology
• Benchmark Class
• Report Structure and Organization Page
• Medical Center Profiles

Patient Flow Analysis

• Arrival
• Triage
• ED Assessment
• General Inpatient Floor
• Intensive Care Unit
• Decision Points

• Internist Role
• Typical Sepsis Patient in the ED
• Inpatient Treatment Options
• Common Signs of Sepsis in ED
• Criteria for Requesting an ICU Transfer
• Symptoms Calling for Fast Track ED Status
• Hospital Discharge Criteria
• Diagnostics Ordered by ED Physicians
• Typical Sepsis Patient in the ICU
• Criteria for ICU Transfer
• Diagnostics Ordered by ICU Physicians
• Types of Sepsis Inpatients
• Role of the Infectious Disease Physician
• Criteria for Inpatient Admission to General Floor
• ED Decision Points
• Most Common Infections in Sepsis Inpatients
• ICU Decision Points
• Inpatient Medicine Decision Points