Implementing electronic sepsis screening for hospitalized ward patients significantly reduces 90-day in-hospital mortality, according to a study published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings coincided with the Critical Care Reviews Down Under meeting, held from December 10 to 11.

Led by Yaseen M. Arabi, M.D., from King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the study analyzed data from 60,055 patients treated at five hospitals. Of these, 29,442 patients were in the electronic sepsis screening group, while 30,613 received no screening. Conducted across 45 hospital wards randomly assigned to different sequences, sepsis screening was implemented in two-month intervals.

The study revealed that patients in the screening group experienced significant benefits. Alerts for sepsis occurred in 14.6 percent of screened patients versus 17.6 percent in the no-screening group. Within 12 hours of an alert, patients in the screening group were more likely to undergo serum lactate testing (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.30) and receive intravenous fluids (aRR, 2.17). Crucially, electronic sepsis screening reduced 90-day in-hospital mortality (aRR, 0.85).

Additionally, screening was associated with reductions in vasopressor therapy and multidrug-resistant organism cases. However, it also increased the rates of code blue activations, incident kidney replacement therapy, and Clostridioides difficile infections.

"The intervention is continuous, low-cost, reliable, reproducible, unbiased, and sustainable," the authors noted.

These findings underscore the potential of electronic health interventions to improve clinical outcomes in a cost-effective and scalable manner. While the results highlight notable benefits, the associated risks call for further refinement to optimize patient safety and care quality.