Epic alert exposes ‘silent killer’ SEPSIS

Epic alert exposes ‘silent killer’ - Cambridge Network:
Patients at risk of the ‘silent killer’ sepsis are being identified and treated quicker at Cambridge University Hospitals thanks to a new alert and action feature in its electronic patient record system.A new alert and set of actions within the Trust’s electronic patient record system, Epic,  part of the Trust’s award-winning eHospital digital transformation programme, identifies patients showing signs of sepsis – a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
National guidance recommends that patients with sepsis are given antibiotics within an hour of diagnosis to reduce the risk of serious complications or even death. Every year 250,000 people are affected by sepsis and it accounts for around 44,000 deaths, more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.

However, sepsis can be difficult to spot and is often mistaken in the early stages for other more localised infections. This electronic alert brings to the clinicians’ attention that sepsis could be a possibility if a patient’s clinical observations meet the relevant criteria.