9. Sepsis Protocol Design Project

Sepsis is a systemic infection that is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. The sooner that the antibiotic protocols are started, the better is the patient’s outcome. This case study applied the Lean Six Sigma methodology and tools to develop and implement Sepsis protocols in the Emergency Department of a community-based hospital to improve patients’ sepsis mortality by 9.6 %, while improving the time that the sepsis protocols were administered from the time that the patient arrived to the Emergency Department. There is still improvement to be made in the consistency of administering the sepsis protocols for suspected sepsis patients in the ED. This chapter is not intended to provide medical advice or recommendations.