Sepsis: It’s About Time

A good primary care physician (PCP) is worth their weight in gold. Thirty years ago, Julie Szirovecz turned to her Trinity Health Grand Rapids PCP, Fred Reyelts, M.D., when others did not listen.

“A week after surgery I contacted my surgeon, I could hardly stand because of the pain,” said Julie. “I had a fever, chills and my abdomen was burning. I was given strong pain medication and sent home.”

Julie needed much more than pain medicine. As soon as she saw Dr. Reyelts, he sent her straight to Trinity Health Grand Rapids hospital where she was admitted to receive life-saving treatment. Julie’s body was full of infection; she was in septic shock.

“Sepsis is the body’s extreme reaction to an infection,” said Rosalie Tocco-Bradley, PhD, M.D., Chief Clinical Officer for Trinity Health Michigan. “It is a life-threatening medical emergency which requires immediate attention.” Without timely treatment, sepsis can lead to death.

Eliminating sepsis is a priority for Trinity Health Michigan, thus, a statewide team was formed to standardize and improve care at all nine of the health system’s hospitals. The all-expert multidisciplinary team is comprised of infectious disease physicians, emergency room physicians, hospitalists, intensivists, pharmacists, nurses and sepsis quality specialists.

“We know sepsis is a leading cause of death and hospital readmissions - nationally,” said Anurag Malani, M.D., an infectious disease physician at Trinity Health Ann Arbor and one of the leaders of the statewide sepsis collaborative. “We’ve come together to assure we’re all hitting the same standards and timeliness of care at the point of early sepsis. We want all of our teams to recognize sepsis immediately. Sepsis is also a national priority for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recently launched the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements – a campaign and guidance to outline structural and procedural components associated with the multidisciplinary expertise required for care of patients with sepsis.

“We’re working with health plans and health systems to improve care. We know we can improve and do better – we’re doing this across the state and improving care in all of our hospitals. We are also standardizing our discharge management.”

For sepsis, the number one concern is time. Early detection and early antibiotics provide the best chance for survival and recovery. Julie was lucky to survive – her sepsis was not diagnosed for weeks. “My doctor told me it was a wonder that I survived,” said Julie. “He was really worried about me. I was in the hospital for several weeks and then had home health care. Everyone who cared for me at Trinity was wonderful, just marvelous.”

“We realize sepsis doesn’t end at the hospital, we need to provide continuous care after discharge, including timely follow-up,” said Dr. Tocco-Bradley. “We’re using our Michigan Data analytics powerhouse to help us measure and benchmark all the important pieces across the system – if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

Seeking care from an experienced and qualified primary care physician can be lifesaving. Please visit Trinity Health Michigan’s website to find a primary care physician near you.