A New Chapter in Improving Sepsis Programs and Optimizing Patient Care Nationwide

Since 2017, CDC has been committed to protecting patients and addressing sepsis, a life-threatening medical emergency that affects at least 1.7 million adults each year. This Sepsis Awareness Month, CDC ushers in a new chapter in advancing sepsis programs and patient care:

• New Innovative Tools and Scientific Work
  CDC has led the way providing new, innovative tools to optimize patient care, such as the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements (Sepsis Core Elements). The agency is working to support putting these tools into practice and expanding upon them.

  Few tools exist to help nursing home facilities navigate and improve sepsis recognition and escalation of care to an acute care facility. Modified from existing CDC sepsis and infection prevention assessments, CDC will soon be launching a Sepsis Prevention Assessment Tool that can assist nursing homes in better understanding sepsis knowledge, attitudes, and practices among frontline staff in their facility. In collaboration with CDC subject matter experts, use of this tool will also provide nursing homes with an outline for opportunities to improve sepsis care within their facility.

• Evaluating the Uptake of the Sepsis Core Elements
  CDC tracks uptake of the Sepsis Core Elements through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most comprehensive system to prevent healthcare-associated infections and protect the safety of patients and healthcare workers. In 2024, hospitals reported modest improvements over the prior year with 80% having sepsis committees, 60% allocating sufficient dedicated time for sepsis leadership, and 68% having antibiotic stewardship programs. Additionally, a new Sepsis Core Elements facility report will be available in the NHSN application, which will allow facilities to see their Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements Score and easily identify areas for improvement.
• Maximizing Efficiency to Improve Healthcare Quality and Promote Patient Safety
  In fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated to CDC an unprecedented $3 million in funding for sepsis. With these funds, CDC developed new quality measures that promote optimal care of patients with sepsis. These measures will help make data more streamlined for NHSN and modernize hospital management and outcomes of sepsis to promote optimal patient care. In late 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to publicly post the adult sepsis process and outcome measures for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) consideration. Our partners will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the measures during a public comment period in early 2026 before CMS review in summer 2026.
• Strengthening Partnerships to Expand Reach and Impact
  CDC and The American Hospital Association/Health Research & Educational Trust created the Sepsis Champions Leadership Series, a new collaborative which seeks to drive meaningful change and elevate hospital and health system sepsis teams’ sepsis performance through monthly sessions led by healthcare leaders and sepsis experts. These sessions provided insights from top performers, facilitated hospital and health system connection and learning, and explained how to integrate the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements to strengthen hospital and health systems’ approach to sepsis care. CDC also partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics to gain critical insights to inform resource development and educational events with the goal of reducing the incidence and severity of sepsis cases in children attending summer camp.
• Continuing to Raise Awareness About Sepsis
  CDC is developing new and updated Get Ahead of Sepsis national educational effort tools to raise awareness about the risks of sepsis to adults, children, and families. These include two toolkits for communities and schools about sepsis in children and specific materials for people at risk for sepsis, including sepsis survivors; people with recent severe illness, surgery, or hospital care; as well as materials for OB/GYNs and family medicine providers; and more. CDC also revamped its sepsis website with a new, more user-friendly search functionality for toolkits and other materials.

CDC Needs Your Help to Spread the Word About Sepsis

Even though at least 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or are discharged to hospice, many people are still unaware of what sepsis is, what to do if they suspect it, and how to prevent infections that can lead to sepsis. You play a critical role, and we need your help raising awareness to protect more lives:

• Download and share new and refreshed materials for patients and healthcare professionals.
• Help promote awareness by following CDC’s social media channels— Facebook, X, and Instagram —and posting information and graphics about Sepsis Awareness Month using the hashtags #SAM2025 or #GetAheadOfSepsis. You can also support CDC’s sepsis awareness work on social media by following Project Firstline on Facebook CDC Firstline, X CDC Firstline, and Instagram CDC Firstline and Antimicrobial Resistance on X CDC AR.

Learn more about the Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements and CDC’s national educational effort, Get Ahead of Sepsis.

—
Arjun Srinivasan, MD, is the Deputy Director for Program Improvement in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).