National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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- Antibiotics (2)
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- (-) Quality of Care (17)
- (-) Sepsis (17)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 17 of 17 Research Studies DisplayedPak TR, Young J, McKenna CS
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Important studies indicate that every hour of sepsis that elapses until antibiotics are administered increases mortality. The researchers of this study found determined that analyses in the influential studies often adjusted for limited covariates, included patients with long delays until antibiotic administration, combined sepsis and septic shock, and used linear models presuming each hour of delay has equal impact on the sepsis and the patient. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the analytic decisions on the relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. The researchers retrospectively identified 104,248 adults admitted from 2015-2022 to five hospitals with suspected infection. The patients included 25,990 with suspected septic shock and 23,619 with sepsis without shock. The study found that changing covariates, maximum time-to-antibiotics, and severity stratification altered the magnitude, direction, and significance of observed relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. In a fully adjusted model of patients treated within 6 hours, every hour related with higher mortality for septic shock, but not sepsis without shock or suspected infection alone. Modeling every hour independently confirmed that every hour delay was related with greater mortality for septic shock, but only delays of greater than 6 hours were related with greater mortality for sepsis without shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS027170.
Citation: Pak TR, Young J, McKenna CS .
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Clin Infect Dis 2023 Nov 30; 77(11):1534-43. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad450..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Medication, Sepsis, Mortality, Quality of Care
Bolte TB, Swanson MB, Kaldjian AM
Hospitals that report severe sepsis and septic shock bundle compliance have more structured sepsis performance improvement.
This study linked survey data on quality improvement (QI) practices from Iowa hospitals to severe sepsis/septic shock (SEP-1) performance data and mortality. All Iowa hospitals (100%) completed the survey. SEP-1 reporting hospitals were more likely to have sepsis QI practices, including reporting sepsis quality to providers (64% versus 38%) and using the case review process to develop sepsis care plans. Increased SEP-1 scores were not associated with sepsis QI practices. A sepsis registry was associated with decreased odds of being in the bottom quartile of sepsis mortality, and presence of a sepsis committee was associated with lower hospital-specific mortality.
AHRQ-funded; HS025753.
Citation: Bolte TB, Swanson MB, Kaldjian AM .
Hospitals that report severe sepsis and septic shock bundle compliance have more structured sepsis performance improvement.
J Patient Saf 2022 Dec 1;18(8):e1231-e36. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001062..
Keywords: Sepsis, Hospitals, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care
Barbash IJ, Davis BS, Yabes JG
Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes after the introduction of the Medicare Sepsis Performance Measure (SEP-1).
This study evaluated the effect of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1) on treatment patterns and patient outcomes. Findings showed that, two years after its implementation, SEP-1 was associated with variable changes in process measures, with the greatest effect being an increase in lactate measurement within 3 hours of sepsis onset. There were small increases in antibiotic administration and fluid administration, a small increase in ICU admissions, and no changes in mortality or discharge to home.
Citation: Barbash IJ, Davis BS, Yabes JG .
Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes after the introduction of the Medicare Sepsis Performance Measure (SEP-1).
Ann Intern Med 2021 Jul;174(7):927-35. doi: 10.7326/m20-5043..
Keywords: Sepsis, Medicare, Outcomes, Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Paul R, Niedner M, Brilli R
Metric development for the multicenter Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO) Collaborative.
A 56 US hospital collaborative, Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO), has developed variables, metrics and a data analysis plan to track quality improvement (QI)-based patient outcomes over time. Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes expands on previous pediatric sepsis QI efforts by improving electronic data capture and uniformity across sites. This paper describes the metric development for the multicenter IPSO Collaborative.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Paul R, Niedner M, Brilli R .
Metric development for the multicenter Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes (IPSO) Collaborative.
Pediatrics 2021 May;147(5):e2020017889. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-017889..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Sepsis, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Evidence-Based Practice
Larsen GY, Brilli R, Macias CG
Development of a quality improvement learning collaborative to improve pediatric sepsis outcomes.
Researchers developed a multicenter quality improvement learning collaborative of US children's hospitals. They created a key driver diagram (KDD) with the aim of reducing both the sepsis-attributable mortality and the incidence of hospital-onset sepsis in children. The KDD primary drivers focused on improving the following: treatment of infection; recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of sepsis; de-escalation of unnecessary care; engagement of patients and families; and methods to optimize performance. The Children's Hospital Association Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes collaborative aims to improve sepsis outcomes through collaborative learning and reliable implementation of evidence-based interventions.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Larsen GY, Brilli R, Macias CG .
Development of a quality improvement learning collaborative to improve pediatric sepsis outcomes.
Pediatrics 2021 Jan;147(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-1434..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Sepsis, Outcomes, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Education: Continuing Medical Education
Mohr NM, Zebrowski AM, Gaieski DF
Inpatient hospital performance is associated with post-discharge sepsis mortality.
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that hospitals with high risk-adjusted inpatient sepsis mortality also have high post-discharge mortality, readmissions, and discharge to nursing homes. Sepsis hospitalization survivors among age-qualifying Medicare beneficiaries were followed for 180 days post-discharge; mortality, readmissions, and new admission to skilled nursing facilities were measured. Findings showed that hospitals with the highest risk-adjusted sepsis inpatient mortality also had higher post-discharge mortality and increased readmissions, suggesting that post-discharge complications were a modifiable risk that may be affected during inpatient care. Recommendations for future work include seeking to elucidate inpatient and healthcare practices that can reduce sepsis post-discharge complications.
AHRQ-funded; HS023614; HS025753.
Citation: Mohr NM, Zebrowski AM, Gaieski DF .
Inpatient hospital performance is associated with post-discharge sepsis mortality.
Crit Care 2020 Oct 27;24(1):626. doi: 10.1186/s13054-020-03341-3..
Keywords: Sepsis, Mortality, Hospital Discharge, Hospitals, Provider Performance, Quality of Care, Inpatient Care, Hospital Readmissions
Scott HF, Brilli RJ, Paul R
Evaluating pediatric sepsis definitions designed for electronic health record extraction and multicenter quality improvement.
The purpose of this study was to describe the Children's Hospital Association's Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes sepsis definitions and to evaluate the definition using a published framework. The investigators concluded that the Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes Sepsis definitions demonstrated feasibility for large-scale data abstraction. When operationalized, these definitions enabled multicenter identification and data aggregation, indicating practical utility for quality improvement.
AHRQ-funded; HS025696.
Citation: Scott HF, Brilli RJ, Paul R .
Evaluating pediatric sepsis definitions designed for electronic health record extraction and multicenter quality improvement.
Crit Care Med 2020 Oct;48(10):e916-e26. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000004505..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Sepsis, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Shappell CN, Klompas M, Rhee C
Surveillance strategies for tracking sepsis incidence and outcomes.
Sepsis is a leading cause of death and the target of intense efforts to improve recognition, management and outcomes. Accurate sepsis surveillance is essential to properly interpreting the impact of quality improvement initiatives, making meaningful comparisons across hospitals and geographic regions, and guiding future research and resource investments. In this review, the investigators discuss the advantages and limitations of different sepsis surveillance strategies and consider future directions.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Shappell CN, Klompas M, Rhee C .
Surveillance strategies for tracking sepsis incidence and outcomes.
J Infect Dis 2020 Jul 21;222(Suppl 2):S74-s83. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa102..
Keywords: Sepsis, Outcomes, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Barbash IJ, Kahn JM
Sepsis quality in safety-net hospitals: an analysis of Medicare's SEP-1 performance measure.
Researchers studied the relationship between hospital safety-net status and performance on Medicare's SEP-1 quality measure. Data from 2827 hospitals were analyzed. They found that existing sepsis policies may harm safety-net hospitals and widen health disparities. They suggest that strategies to promote collaboration among hospitals may be an avenue for sepsis performance improvement in these hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS025455.
Citation: Barbash IJ, Kahn JM .
Sepsis quality in safety-net hospitals: an analysis of Medicare's SEP-1 performance measure.
J Crit Care 2019 Dec;54:88-93. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2019.08.009.
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Keywords: Sepsis, Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Provider Performance, Quality Improvement
Barbash IJ, Davis B, Kahn JM
National performance on the Medicare SEP-1 sepsis quality measure.
Researchers characterized national performance on the sepsis measure known as SEP-1. They found that the majority of eligible hospitals reported SEP-1 data, and overall bundle compliance was highly variable. Further, SEP-1 performance was associated with structural hospital characteristics and performance on other measures of hospital quality, providing preliminary support for SEP-1 performance as a marker of timely hospital sepsis care.
AHRQ-funded; HS025455.
Citation: Barbash IJ, Davis B, Kahn JM .
National performance on the Medicare SEP-1 sepsis quality measure.
Crit Care Med 2019 Aug;47(8):1026-32. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000003613..
Keywords: Sepsis, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Provider Performance
Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends immediate antibiotics for all patients with suspected sepsis and septic shock, ideally within 1 hour of recognition. An accurate understanding of the precise relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality for patients with possible sepsis is therefore critical. In this study, the investigators elaborate on potential sources of bias and try to distill a better understanding of what the true relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality may be for patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M .
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
J Infect Dis 2020 Jul 21;222(Suppl 2):S110-s18. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa146..
Keywords: Sepsis, Antibiotics, Medication, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Mortality
Darby JL, Davis BS, Barbash IJ
An administrative model for benchmarking hospitals on their 30-day sepsis mortality.
The goal of this study was to develop an administrative risk-adjustment model suitable for profiling hospitals on their 30-day mortality rates for patients with sepsis. The investigators concluded that a novel claims-based risk-adjustment model demonstrated wide variation in risk-standardized 30-day sepsis mortality rates across hospitals. Individual hospitals' performance rankings were stable across years and after the addition of laboratory data. They assert that this model provides a robust way to rank hospitals on sepsis mortality while adjusting for patient risk.
AHRQ-funded; HS025455.
Citation: Darby JL, Davis BS, Barbash IJ .
An administrative model for benchmarking hospitals on their 30-day sepsis mortality.
BMC Health Serv Res 2019 Apr 11;19(1):221. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4037-x..
Keywords: Hospitals, Mortality, Quality of Care, Sepsis
Kempker JA, Kramer MR, Waller LA
State-level hospital compliance with and performance in the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services' Early Management Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Bundle.
This research letter discusses a study that measured state-level hospital compliance and performance in the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services’(CMS) Early Management Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Bundle (SEP-1) inpatient quality measure. There was a wide range of compliance from 97% (New Jersey) to North Dakota (15.9%). There was a state average of 48%.
AHRQ-funded; HS025240.
Citation: Kempker JA, Kramer MR, Waller LA .
State-level hospital compliance with and performance in the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services' Early Management Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Bundle.
Crit Care 2019 Mar 18;23(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s13054-019-2382-0..
Keywords: Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Quality Measures, Sepsis
Rhee C, Brown SR, Jones TM
Variability in determining sepsis time zero and bundle compliance rates for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services SEP-1 measure.
This study compared sepsis ‘time zero’ and CMS SEP-1 pass rates among 3 abstractors in 3 hospitals. Abstractors agreed on time zero in 29 out of 80 cases, and the perceived pass rates ranged from 9 to 19 out of 80 cases (23%). The authors conclude that this variability in time zero and perceived pass rates limits the utility of SEP-1 for measuring quality.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Rhee C, Brown SR, Jones TM .
Variability in determining sepsis time zero and bundle compliance rates for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services SEP-1 measure.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018 Aug;39(8):994-96. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.134..
Keywords: Guidelines, Quality of Care, Quality Measures, Sepsis
Austrian JS, Jamin CT, Doty GR
Impact of an emergency department electronic sepsis surveillance system on patient mortality and length of stay.
The goal of this study was to determine if an electronic health record (EHR) based sepsis alert system could improve quality of care and clinical outcomes for patients with sepsis. A patient-level, interrupted time series study of emergency department patients with severe sepsis or septic shock was conducted, with an intervention introduced at the approximate mid-point--a system of interruptive sepsis alerts triggered by abnormal vital signs or laboratory results. Mean length of stay for patients with sepsis decreased significantly following the introduction of the alert, but the alert system had no effect on mortality or other clinical or process measures. The researchers conclude that a more sophisticated algorithm for sepsis identification is needed to improve outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS023683.
Citation: Austrian JS, Jamin CT, Doty GR .
Impact of an emergency department electronic sepsis surveillance system on patient mortality and length of stay.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2018 May;25(5):523-29. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx072..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Emergency Department, Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals, Mortality, Outcomes, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Sepsis
Calderwood MS, Vaz LE, Tse Kawai A
Impact of hospital operating margin on central line-associated bloodstream infections following Medicare's hospital-acquired conditions payment policy.
In October 2008, Medicare ceased additional payment for hospital-acquired conditions not present on admission. The researchers evaluated the policy's differential impact in hospitals with high vs low operating margins. They concluded that Medicare's payment policy may have had an impact on reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospitals with low operating margins.
AHRQ-funded; HS018414.
Citation: Calderwood MS, Vaz LE, Tse Kawai A .
Impact of hospital operating margin on central line-associated bloodstream infections following Medicare's hospital-acquired conditions payment policy.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016 Jan;37(1):100-3. doi: 10.1017/ice.2015.250.
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Keywords: Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Medicare, Quality of Care, Payment, Sepsis
Cooke CR, Iwashyna TJ
Sepsis mandates: improving inpatient care while advancing quality improvement.
In light of improvements in the care of the acutely ill hospitalized patients and changes in the epidemiology of hospital care, the authors recommend new quality mandates focused on sepsis. These mandates should: (1) address the reality that sepsis is frequently underdiagnosed, (2) focus on catalyzing and aggregating local efforts for quality improvements, and (3) plan for a phased implementation, improving measures in select sites prior to national roll-out.
AHRQ-funded; HS020672
Citation: Cooke CR, Iwashyna TJ .
Sepsis mandates: improving inpatient care while advancing quality improvement.
JAMA. 2014 Oct 8;312(14):1397-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.11350..
Keywords: Quality of Care, Hospitalization, Inpatient Care, Critical Care, Sepsis