The Role of Clinical Collaboration Platforms in Enhancing Sepsis Care Workflows

In a typical year, at least 1.7 million adults in America develop sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection. About 30% of severe sepsis patients don’t survive, and up to 50% of survivors suffer from post-sepsis syndrome. These alarming statistics secure the condition’s position as the third-leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals. So, what causes such a high mortality rate among sepsis patients? 

Patients often reach severe status and may ultimately die due to delayed response or detection from the hospital where they seek treatment. Sepsis is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages. This makes timely diagnosis challenging, especially in busy emergency departments (ED). Aspects that challenge early care can also include competing diagnoses, varying levels of evidence for sepsis recommendations, and the risk of administering unnecessary therapies – with communication breakdowns among care team members further hindering care. 

Sepsis usually becomes a fatal case the longer it goes without proper treatment, so when an emergency department is overcrowded and connected by disparate communication methods, patients with unclear symptoms may sit undetected in the waiting room until a clinician or nurse becomes available. 

The alarming reality is that for every hour that goes by without treatment for sepsis, the patient’s chances of dying increase by 4- 9%. In pediatric patients, the delay in administering antibiotics by just over five hours increases mortality risk by more than three times. These sobering statistics accentuate the critical need for rapid diagnosis and immediate intervention.

Tackling communication and financial barriers to sepsis care

One of the most significant barriers to timely sepsis care is miscommunication or delays in communication among healthcare teams. The complex nature of sepsis, which requires a coordinated response from multiple specialists, can lead to lost valuable minutes as teams are mobilized and treatment plans are communicated. When patients face prolonged waits for clinicians to conduct follow-up care or receive lab results, the risk of severe, life-threatening sepsis complications increases. 

In many hospitals, sepsis response teams are still notified through outdated communication channels like phone calls and pagers. In some cases, the bedside nurse receives an EHR notification and is responsible for contacting the rest of the care team using a mix of pagers and phone calls. This leads to a tangled web of delays in getting the patient what they need like stat diagnostic tests, medications, and follow up on test results.

Then, there are the financial constraints caused by delayed sepsis care. Sepsis contributes to more than $3.5 billion in hospital readmission costs annually, as reported by Sepsis Alliance. The average price per hospital stay for sepsis is double that of other conditions, making it not only a human tragedy but also a significant financial burden on the healthcare system. Amid these challenges, technology is proving to be a strong ally.

Optimizing sepsis treatment with clinical collaboration platforms

More and more healthcare organizations are turning to clinical collaboration platforms to streamline communication and improve sepsis care workflows, meaning that the potential to save lives and reduce the impact of sepsis will only continue to grow. Workflow and clinical communication technology can help ensure rapid treatment and better patient outcomes.

Hospitals that can immediately mobilize their resources are better equipped to fight sepsis and give patients a better chance at recovery. That’s where technology comes in. These platforms provide real-time communication and collaboration tools that enable healthcare teams to quickly coordinate and execute sepsis response protocols. Additionally, it facilitates consistent communication within a unified, cloud-based platform. A comprehensive solution supports secure messaging, video, voice, and real-time alerts, ensuring seamless and protected communication among care teams, regardless of shifts.

Clinical collaboration platforms integrate with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems, ensuring that critical patient information is readily accessible to all team members. This integration allows immediate notification of the sepsis response team, allowing them to assess the situation and initiate treatment without delay. By reducing the time it takes to deploy medical resources and start assessments, order entry, and treatment, these platforms help to significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce the risk of post-sepsis syndrome.

A seamless sepsis response

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation of what a clinical collaboration platform in practice looks like for a hospital and its sepsis patients. An ER is busy with the intake of numerous patients with varying symptoms, including a patient who presents with symptoms of sepsis. The clinical staff quickly enters the assessment findings into the EHR, triggering a positive sepsis screening, and the alert is automatically sent to the sepsis response team via the clinical collaboration platform. The appropriate specialists are notified within seconds, and a secure group chat is initiated to discuss the patient’s condition and treatment plan.

As lab results, blood cultures, and other critical data become available, they are immediately shared within the group chat, allowing for real-time updates and adjustments to the treatment plan. The platform also supports video conferencing, enabling remote specialists to participate in the discussion and provide input regardless of location. Thanks to this streamlined communication, the initial treatment, team response, and handoff have been expedited.

A typical workflow in this situation would take more than 80 minutes, while a workflow powered by a clinical collaboration platform would cut that time in half. This streamlined communication process saves time and reduces the risk of errors or miscommunication, ensuring that the patient receives the most effective treatment as quickly as possible. By bringing a multidisciplinary care team together sooner, these platforms help facilitate the early detection of sepsis, allowing for swift intervention and reducing the time required to diagnose and begin treatment.

Looking ahead: The future of sepsis care

While many advancements are being made in improving sepsis care, it’s essential to recognize that the fight against sepsis is far from over. While clinical collaboration platforms have already made a significant impact, there is still much work to be done to ensure that every hospital has the tools and protocols in place to respond to sepsis with the urgency it demands.

Sepsis is a deadly disease that can often come without warning and can’t be ignored once symptoms present themselves. Delays in treatment can have devastating consequences, but by enabling real-time communication and coordination among healthcare teams, clinical communication platforms can improve sepsis treatment workflows and help reduce sepsis mortality.

Photo: pablohart, Getty Images

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