Press Release

6/15/2020

SIDP Works with IDSA on Recommendations to Improve National Quality Measure for Sepsis Care

Sepsis affects over 1.5 million adults each year in the United States and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.  The Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1) was implemented in 2015 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established sepsis as a national priority for quality improvement.  The measure requires hospitals to publicly report their compliance with a ‘bundle’ of care measures in order to receive additional payments.  The measure emphasizes giving broad spectrum antibiotics to all patients with possible sepsis, including a large fraction of patients who could quickly be determined to not be septic.  In order to achieve a better balance for getting immediate antibiotic treatment to the sickest patients who need it most while balancing unnecessary antibiotic exposure for other patients, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) established the Sepsis Task Force, chaired by Henry Masur, MD, FIDSA; to create recommendations to optimize the current measure.

The IDSA Task Force includes representation from other IDSA partners including the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), along with SIDP representation by board member Emily Heil. The task force published a position paper in Clinical Infectious Diseases recommending changes to the SEP-1 measure.  The SIDP Guidelines Committee and Board of Directors summarized the main points and offered suggestions to further clarify and strengthen the recommendations in an editorial published in Pharmacotherapy .

“It has been a great opportunity to serve on the IDSA Sepsis Task Force on behalf of SIDP. We are working constructively with CMS on ways to refine and optimize the SEP-1 bundle to improve the care of patients with sepsis,”  said Heil.

About SIDP

SIDP is an association of pharmacists and allied healthcare professionals dedicated to promoting the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. SIDP membership is comprised of 1,500 members in hospital, academic, industry, governmental organizations, and other practice settings across all 50 states and throughout the globe. The mission of SIDP is to advance infectious diseases pharmacy and lead antimicrobial stewardship in order to optimize the care of patients.

Contact

Email: sidp@affinity-strategies.com

Phone: (331) 248-7888

Mailing Address:

121 W. State Street

Geneva, IL 60134