Two federal agencies are collaborating to increase positive outcomes for sepsis patients and Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) yesterday announced a new partnership with the IHS to create a standard for hte the early identification and management of sepsis through a quality improvement initiative.
Sepsis occurs when the body’s extreme response to an infection damages vital organs and can quickly become life-threatening, meaning early recognition and treatment are critical. Many IHS facilities are in rural or remote locations where access to expertise and resources to manage sepsis can be limited. Native people are more than 1.5 times more likely to die of sepsis than the national average, according to the Sepsis Alliance.
“Sepsis moves fast, and timely recognition and treatment can make a critical difference for patients,” AHRQ Director Roger D. Klein, M.D., J.D. said in a press release.
The initiative will produce an educational toolkit for healthcare teams and assess its impact at participating facilities. Monitoring and evaluation will help identify what is working and allow the tools and approaches to be improved based on the needs of participating sites. AHRQ is supporting the three-year effort with $7.5 million in funding.
“The opportunity to create a much-needed sepsis clinical resource that will be available IHS-wide with such a quality agency, AHRQ, will improve outcomes that our communities and patients deserve,” Kim Hartwig, M.D., IHS director of strategic initiatives, said.
