SCCM Resource Library-Tele-Sepsis: Leveraging Telemedicine to Improve Early Detection and Management of Sepsis

Pdf Summary

Sepsis affects over 1.7 million adults annually in the U.S., with high mortality rates, making it the leading cause of in-hospital death. Telemedicine targeting sepsis, called tele-sepsis, involves continuous monitoring, rapid response, adherence to treatment protocols, and thorough handovers, improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs while enhancing healthcare quality, access, cost efficiency, and clinician experience - the Quadruple Aim.<br /><br />Tele-sepsis programs complement bedside care by offering earlier responses via remote monitoring and clinical decision support, reducing time to early goal-directed therapy, ICU admissions, length of stay, and hospital costs. Key to success are bedside clinician support, automated screening tools, and strong institutional backing.<br /><br />Tele-sepsis clinicians assist bedside staff—especially in resource-limited settings—with expertise in subtle sepsis signs, treatment decisions, and workload reduction. Teams may include intensivists, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, and nurses, all enhancing early detection, antibiotic stewardship, and protocol adherence. Automated screening integrated into electronic health records enables continuous vital sign and biomarker monitoring, improved protocol compliance, and use of AI for risk stratification and phenotyping sepsis variants. AI tools like John Hopkins’s TREWScore and UC San Diego's COMPOSER have reduced mortality and enhanced prediction, with the FDA approving an AI-based sepsis diagnostic in 2024.<br /><br />Institutional support facilitates continuity through emergency, ICU, discharge, and post-acute phases, with tele-sepsis clinicians aiding handovers, dosing accuracy, and discharge planning, helping reduce 30-day readmissions through virtual surveillance and risk assessments.<br /><br />Tele-sepsis advances each Quadruple Aim domain: improving care quality by preventing septic shock progression; expanding access via standardized protocols across diverse settings; decreasing costs through optimized resource use and antimicrobial stewardship; and enhancing clinician experience by reducing workload and burnout.<br /><br />Emerging trends include AI enhancements, precision medicine, social determinants integration, and extended post-acute monitoring, aiming for predictive rather than reactive sepsis care. Virtual sepsis surveillance thus offers a comprehensive, value-driven solution improving patient outcomes, provider satisfaction, and healthcare economics.

Asset Subtitle

Professional Development and Education, Sepsis, 2025, 00:08:19

Asset Caption

"This article was first published in the Summer 2025 issue of Critical Connections.

Telemedicine focusing on sepsis, termed tele-sepsis, includes consistent screening of alerts, rapid response times, appropriate treatment, and effective handovers. Tele-sepsis programs have demonstrated they can improve both clinical and financial outcomes and address the healthcare Quadruple Aim, which consists of improving healthcare across four domains: quality, access, cost, and clinician experience.

Critical Connections, the critical care industry’s only newsmagazine, provides information on cutting-edge topics in critical care useful to the entire multiprofessional team."

Meta Tag

Content Type Article

Knowledge Area Professional Development and Education

Knowledge Area Sepsis

Membership Level Associate

Membership Level Professional

Membership Level Select

Tag Innovation

Year 2025

Keywords

Article

Professional Development and Education

Sepsis

Tele-sepsis

Telemedicine

Sepsis monitoring

AI in sepsis

Quadruple Aim

Early goal-directed therapy

Automated screening tools

Antibiotic stewardship

Post-acute sepsis care

Innovation

2025

Associate

Professional

Select

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