Effect of Emergency Department Care Reorganization on Door-to-antibiotic Times for Sepsis (LDS SWARM)

Effect of Emergency Department Care Reorganization on Door-to-antibiotic Times for Sepsis (LDS SWARM)

Sepsis is a common syndrome resulting from a dysregulated response to infection. The timing of antibiotic initiation is an important determinant of outcomes for patients presenting to the emergency department with sepsis. The potential effect of care reorganization on very early care for sepsis is unknown. This study will investigate whether multidisciplinary coordination of the initial patient evaluation in the emergency department influences door-to-antibiotic time for septic patients.

This is a retrospective cohort study of emergency department sepsis care before versus after implementation of a "swarming" model for simultaneous patient evaluation by multidisciplinary care providers. The analysis will use data from similar hospitals that did not change sepsis care organization during the study period to control for changes in sepsis care not resulting from the "swarming" intervention.

Primary inclusion criteria:

• Adult patients age ≥18 years
• Presented to the ED of study hospital from May 16, 2015 to April 15, 2016 (pre-implementation cohort) or May 16 to November 15, 2016 (post-implementation cohort)
• Sepsis present in ED (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA] score ≥2 points above baseline while in ED plus antibiotic initiation while in the ED)
• Triage acuity score 2-5

Inclusion criteria for supplemental sensitivity analyses:

• Presented to the ED of study hospital between May 16, 2015 and April 15, 2016 (pre-implementation cohort) or May 16, 2016 and February 15, 2017 (post-implementation cohort).
• Sepsis on presentation to ED, defined as initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score ≥2 points above baseline plus antibiotics initiation within 24 hours of ED arrival.

Overall exclusion criteria:

• Age <18 years
• No antibiotics within 24 hours of ED arrival