Licking Memorial Health Systems has been recognized as a 2018 honoree of the Ohio Patient Safety Institute’s (OPSI) Best Practice Award for their Sepsis Initiative.  The OPSI Award is named in honor of Frank Dono, D.O., a long-time leader and pioneer of patient safety and quality.  OPSI is committed to providing education and resources to promote patient safety information and develop programs for hospital and provider safety, including medication safety, surgical and procedural safety, infection prevention, safety culture and best practices.
 
In 2015, the mortality rate for sepsis at Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH) was 27.1 percent – above the statewide average of 19.4 percent.  In an effort to reduce the number of sepsis-related deaths by thirty percent over three years (2015-2018), LMHS joined the Ohio Hospital Association’s (OHA) Institute for Health Innovation and the Sepsis Alliance to improve community awareness of the signs of sepsis.  LMHS established a multidisciplinary sepsis team, including physician champions, nurses, pharmacists, Laboratory staff, Information Systems and Process Improvement staff that supervises the development of numerous improvement activities throughout the continuum of care received by sepsis patients.  One year after the initiation of the campaign, LMH’s inpatient mortality rate from sepsis decreased nearly 70 percent and gains have been successfully sustained for six consecutive quarters of performance.
 
“Receiving the Ohio Patient Safety Institute Best Practice Award is a great honor for our organization, said Rob Montagnese, LMHS President & CEO.  “We are extremely proud of the results of the Licking Memorial Hospital Sepsis Initiative.  Our staff, physicians, senior management and Board Members are committed to implementing new ways to protect our patients and we will continue to be passionate about caring for our patients and the conditions that place them at risk.”
 
A broad, interdisciplinary series of changes and numerous proactive components significantly impacted the success of this project and have contributed to sustainable results.  LMH has noted a significant increase in the identification and coding of sepsis since this project began.  Enhanced recognition, based upon implemented improvements, can be designated the primary driver of this success.