BC Sepsis Network estimated to have averted 172 deaths and saved the health-care system $50.6 million

A new study estimates that the British Columbia Sepsis Network averted 981 sepsis cases and 172 deaths between 2014 and 2018. By averting these cases, the healthcare system saved $50.6 million in 2018, according to findings recently published in Critical Care Medicine.

The British Columbia Patient Safety & Quality Council had invested $449,962 in the British Columbia Sepsis Network. Lower occurrence of in-hospital sepsis and mortality translated to a savings of $50.6 million.

“The study’s findings strengthen a policy argument for large-scale sepsis quality improvement initiatives” said co-author Dr. David Sweet, clinical associate professor with UBC Department of Emergency Medicine, critical care physician at Vancouver General Hospital, sepsis clinical lead for the British Columbia Patient Safety & Quality Council, and chair of the BC Sepsis Network and COVID Therapeutics Committee.

Read the story on the UBC News website.

Learn more

• Critical Care Medicine: The Return on Investment of a Province-Wide Quality Improvement Initiative for Reducing In-Hospital Sepsis Rates and Mortality in British Columbia, Canada
• BC Patient Safety & Quality Council: British Columbia Sepsis Network 
• UBC News: British Columbia Sepsis Network estimated to have averted 172 deaths and saved the health-care system $50.6 million