Sepsis Recognition by Electronic Health Record Screening in the Pediatric ICU

Early recognition and intervention of sepsis in the pediatric population have been shown to decrease hospital length of stay and mortality rates. Stakeholders within a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) identified a need to improve sepsis recognition in compliance with the Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes Collaborative recommendations.

The purpose of this study was to identify appropriate screening variables in an electronic health record (EHR)-embedded sepsis screening tool to improve sepsis recognition in the PICU setting.

A retrospective data analysis was conducted to test 3 versions of an EHR sepsis screen including triggers based on vital signs and/or laboratory results.

Of the 3 tested versions, the sepsis screen version that triggered based on both vital signs and laboratory findings showed the most promising results with a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 76%.

EHR-embedded sepsis screens that monitor documented variables can identify potential sepsis while avoiding over-triggers.