STOP Sepsis Collaborative

Sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. With an estimated 750,000 cases annually and a nearly 40 percent mortality rate, severe sepsis is also one of the most common causes, and possibly the number one cause, of death in hospital critical care units. In addition to its high mortality rate, severe sepsis also bears a huge price tag, with a national estimate at $16.7 billion annually.

To address this challenge in the New York metropolitan area, the United Hospital Fund and Greater New York Hospital Association, in the fall of 2010, launched a new initiative focused on the early identification and treatment of sepsis at hospitals.  The central goal of the initiative—the STOP Sepsis Collaborative (“STOP,” an acronym for Strengthening Treatment and Outcomes for Patients)—is to reduce mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock by implementing a protocol-based approach to case identification and rapid treatmen.  This will entail improving communication and patient flow between the emergency department and intensive care units (ICUs).

Critical care and emergency medicine leaders from throughout the region spent months developing model protocols, checklists, and data collection tools for the initiative.  The Fund and GNYHA are assisting participating facilities by sponsoring periodic learning sessions and monthly coaching conference calls, fostering dialogue among hospitals about best practices, and providing feedback on data submitted by hospitals so they can track their progress against their peers and other benchmarks.  The Fund and GNYHA, with physician experts, also will visit participating hospitals to help them implement processes promoting the collaborative’s goals. 

Fifty-six hospitals from throughout the region are participating in the STOP Sepsis Collaborative.

Project Contact: Hillary Jalon