Opportunities for Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis

Evaluating Potential Missed Opportunities to Prevent, Treat, or Diagnose Sepsis: A Population-Based Retrospective Study of Insurance Claims https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11968023/ Among patients with sepsis, potential missed opportunities for earlier recognition of sepsis are relatively common, according to research published in the journal Critical Care Explorations. A comparison of nearly 650,000 sepsis cases recorded between 2016 and 2019 with records from prior visits revealed potential missed diagnostic opportunities in over 16 percent of hospital admissions where sepsis was the diagnosis. Most of these potential missed opportunities occurred in outpatient settings. Many of these patients reported symptoms an average of 2 days before their diagnosis. Younger age and receipt of antibiotic, inhaler, and opioid prescriptions—which can mask symptoms of infections that can contribute to developing sepsis—were associated with potential delayed diagnoses. These findings stress that making a diagnosis and not just treating symptoms could lead to faster sepsis identification.