18 September 2018 - - Dutch information services company Wolters Kluwer, Health highlights the critical role of patients, as 4,000 hospitals in the US react to public reporting of sepsis quality scores on Medicare's portal, Hospital Compare, which poses potential reputational and financial risks, the company said.

Sepsis now accounts for more than 12% of all hospital readmissions--far exceeding rates of heart disease, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

As healthcare providers come together in the fight against the deadly condition, Wolters Kluwer is providing educational materials and tailored solutions for fighting sepsis that arm stakeholders across the care continuum--whether they are clinicians, patients or their families.

"Our efforts to fight sepsis are focused on delivering the best outcomes for patients," said Diana Nole, CEO, Wolters Kluwer, Health. "We are on a mission to help hospitals detect sepsis earlier through a combination of intuitive technologies, point-of-care interventions and evidence-based practice guidelines so clinicians are alerted to the signs of sepsis and begin treatment as quickly as possible. Secondly, to avoid recurrences and readmissions, we want to equip healthcare organizations with effective ways to engage and educate patients treated for sepsis after leaving the hospital."

Recognizing the importance of empowering patients to manage their conditions longer-term, Emmi patient engagement solutions from Wolters Kluwer offer sepsis information that helps patients, family members and caregivers gain a better understanding of sepsis symptoms and risks.

Effective sepsis care outside the hospital can help prevent recurrences and can keep patients from being readmitted. Emmi patient-centered programs stress self-care, demonstrate how to prevent and recognize infection, emphasize the importance of adherence to medication instructions, and provide guidance on when to check in with a primary care provider.

While often overlooked, patients play a pivotal role in ensuring positive outcomes from sepsis.

This end-to-end approach enables Wolters Kluwer to prepare healthcare organizations to better manage sepsis risks.

At the point of care, Wolters Kluwer is leveraging its deep knowledge base along with cutting-edge data science and artificial intelligence to harness hundreds of patient data points, mine and process them so patterns and anomalies are identified in real-time, hours before more overt symptoms become clear to clinical staff.

To commemorate Sepsis Awareness Month, Wolters Kluwer recently launched a one-stop Sepsis Resource Center with current information on sepsis-related policy, solutions for healthcare systems, tools and other resources.

Access to the Lippincott NursingCenter which features an informative Signs of Sepsis Infographic as well as updated treatment guidelines and educational materials tailored to nurses.

Information on the new Hour-1 bundle, patient education and engagement, and revised guidance on sepsis.

Links to current, evidence-based research on sepsis available through Ovid and UpToDate.

Blogs, webinars and an executive summary on new CMS public reporting on sepsis published by the Wolters Kluwer POC Advisor team.