According to a Sept. 16 press release, a report to Congress issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), entitled “An Assessment of Sepsis in the United States and its Burden on Hospital Care,” has been published.
The press release on the report says that the report “responds to language in the Joint Explanatory Statement that accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which directed the agency to conduct a comprehensive set of studies that calculate the morbidity, hospital readmissions, and mortality related to sepsis.”
The report investigates sepsis among all patients as well as among specific patient populations, including adults, pregnant women, children, and newborns. Additionally, the report examines the association of pandemic-related changes in the healthcare system with the burden of sepsis.
The press release added, “The report found that hospital emergency departments served as the entry point for most inpatient admissions related to sepsis. Detailed analyses on hospital use related to sepsis underscore its burden on hospital systems, and include:
- National trends in sepsis-related hospital utilization, morbidity, and in-hospital mortality, as well as trends for key patient populations, including adults, pregnant women, children, and newborns.
- Disparities in hospital utilization for sepsis and associated outcomes by patient race and ethnicity, sex, residence in socially vulnerable communities, and urban/rural location.
- State variation in hospital utilization for sepsis and associated costs, and in-hospital mortality rate.”
