CDC

10 Sep CDC Releases Progress and Opportunities from Sepsis Core Elements Program

Posted at 16:44h in Author Interviews, CDC, Infections by

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
CDCKristina Betz MD, PhD
Measure Development and Validation Unit Lead, NHSN
Surveillance Branch
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

MedicalResearch.com: Would you briefly explain what is meant by sepsis?
i.e., how common is it, how serious, what are the major causes?

Response: Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency that happens when the body’s response to an infection causes vital organs to stop working properly. Sepsis is often caused by bacteria, but it can also happen because of other infections, like viruses such as COVID-19.

Sepsis is one of the main reasons people go to the hospital and can be very dangerous. In the United States, about 1.7 million adults go to the hospital each year because of sepsis. Sadly, about 350,000 of these people die in the hospital or are sent to hospice care.

Even if people survive sepsis, it can cause long-lasting problems. They might have new health issues, not be able to go back to work, need to go back to the hospital, or even die later on.
Source: Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements | Sepsis | CDC, What Is Sepsis | Sepsis Alliance


MedicalResearch.com: What are the goals of the Sepsis Core Element program?

    1. The development of a multi-disciplinary hospital sepsis program is critical to monitoring and improving the management and outcomes of patients with sepsis.
    2. The goal of the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements is to identify key features of effective Sepsis Programs and provide hospitals and health systems with flexible guidance to create Sepsis Programs that fit their specific needs and patient groups.
    3. Sepsis Programs should help healthcare staff improve outcomes from sepsis by aiding in the recognition of sepsis, facilitating the implementation of evidence-based management of sepsis, supporting the recovery of patients after sepsis, and monitoring the impact of hospital-based interventions to improve care and outcomes of sepsis.
    4. Overall, the goal is to make sepsis care better and more effective across the United States.
    5. Source: Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements: 2023

       MedicalResearch.com: How is the program implemented and what has been its success so far?

     

    1. The Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements provides a framework that hospitals or healthcare systems can use to develop or improve their Sepsis Programs.
    2. Using the Core Elements starts with getting support from hospital leaders and making sure there are enough resources to manage sepsis effectively. Key steps include appointing leaders who are responsible for the program, involving various medical specialties, and using standard procedures to quickly identify and treat sepsis. Hospitals are also encouraged to keep track of how well they are managing sepsis and to continuously improve their practices. Education is a big focus, ensuring that both healthcare workers and patients understand sepsis better. Ideally, this overall approach is designed to most effectively improve patient care and outcomes related to sepsis in hospitals.
    3. Leaders at the facilities can use the “Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements: Assessment Tool” to document current program infrastructure and activities, and to help identify actions they can take or new approaches to implement that could improve the effectiveness of their sepsis program.
    4. Hospital quality improvement programs focused on sepsis have been associated with reductions in hospital mortality, length of stay, and healthcare costs.
    5. The annual report from 2024 highlights several successes:

 

Many hospitals have set up committees for addressing sepsis: 80% of facilities reporting their facility has a program or committee charged with monitoring and improving sepsis care and/or outcomes, up from 73% in 2022.

More hospitals are giving dedicated time for leaders to manage the programs for sepsis, with 60% saying they have enough time, an increase from 55% in 2022.

Also, 68% of hospitals reported that their sepsis committees now include support for the responsible use of antibiotics to optimize treatment, reduce resistance, and improve patient outcomes up, from 55% in 2022.

These improvements suggest that the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements are helping hospitals improve how they manage sepsis, aiming to lead to better outcomes for patients.

Sources: Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements | Sepsis | CDC; Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements: 2024 Sepsis Program Core Elements: 2024

 

MedicalResearch.com: What else should readers take away from your report?

    1. The results from the 2024 NHSN Patient Safety Component Hospital Annual Survey demonstrate continued modest progress in resourcing hospital programs for sepsis in 2024, with many opportunities to strengthen programs to optimize care of patients with sepsis. Areas for improvement include securing executive sponsorship, establishing clear and measurable goals, providing dedicated time for leaders of sepsis programs to focus on sepsis-related quality improvements, assessing the usability of tools for sepsis, improving access to data for sepsis, streamlining rapid antibiotic administration, and enhancing post-discharge care processes to support recovery.
    2. CDC is providing new, innovative tools to optimize patient care, such as the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements (Sepsis Core Elements). The agency is working to support putting these tools into practice and expanding upon them.

 

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add or me to know?

a. Strengthening Partnerships to Expand Reach and Impact:

CDC and The American Hospital Association/Health Research & Educational Trust created the Sepsis Champions Leadership Series, a new collaborative which seeks to drive meaningful change and elevate hospital and health system sepsis teams’ sepsis performance through monthly sessions led by healthcare leaders and sepsis experts. These sessions provided insights from top performers, facilitated hospital and health system connection and
learning, and explained how to integrate the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements to strengthen hospital and health systems’ approach to sepsis care.

CDC partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics to gain critical insights to inform resource development and educational events with the goal of reducing the incidence and severity of sepsis cases in children attending summer camp.

b. Continuing to Raise Awareness About Sepsis
CDC is developing new and updated Get Ahead of Sepsis national educational effort resources to raise awareness about the risks of sepsis to adults, children, and families.

c. Source:  SAM 2025 Blog:  A New Chapter in Improving Sepsis Programs and Optimizing Patient Care Nationwide

 

Citation: August 21, 2025 by Arjun Srinivasan, MD, Deputy Director for Program Improvement, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, CDC
CategoriesHealthcare-associated infections

Tags: Acute Long, Acute/Long-term Care Settings, Antibiotic Resistance and Antibiotic Use (Stewardship), Healthcare-associated Infections, Sepsis
https://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/tag/sepsis/

 

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Last Updated on September 15, 2025 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

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