Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has taken action to ensure its doctors and nurses don't miss the early warning signs for sepsis. 

A team of doctors, nurses, and IT staff developed an alert within the Cerner electronic medical record system that immediately alerts caregivers when the patient exhibits two or more signs of sepsis. The alert notifies the patient's care team to initiate a sepsis treatment protocol to prevent the syndrome from worsening. 

“It’s easy to miss the warning indicators for sepsis because they’re easily confused with other ailments,” said Dr. Karen Hopper, Methodist North Hospital Chief Medical Office, a seven-hospital health system in Memphis. “There’s a crucial six hour window to recognize and halt the sepsis cascade that can potentially lead to death.

More than 4,000 cases of sepsis have been caught since the alert was put into place in 2007. The electronic alerts have potentially saved the lives in these patients in the four adult hospitals.

Read about Kaye Stewart, a pediatric nurse who benefited from our electronic alert system.

Watch the Fox 13 News story on how our sepsis alert is saving lives.