Fort-Worth JPS Health Network, a healthcare delivery provider, has earned the U.S. Joint Commission certification for sepsis treatment. JPS is the first public hospital in the U.S. to qualify for the joint commission’s care standards for the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sepsis is a “blood poisoning” infection that accounts for 34 to 52 percent of hospital deaths. As the body responds to infection, immune system chemicals can trigger inflammation inside the blood vessels, constricting circulation to vital organs. Sometimes when this happens, the dying bacteria release toxins throughout the body, causing blood pressure to drop, leading to septic shock.
JPS Health has specialized in sepsis treatment and research. It has created a task force “with representatives of all major service lines, which developed Code Sepsis to speed up diagnosis and treatment.” Code Sepsis is a program developed by JPS Health that summons a response team specializing in sepsis treatment. Since Code Sepsis was initiated, the hospital has been recognized for “reducing the mortality rate for sepsis patients from 24 to 13.7 percent, and reducing the length of hospital stay” for patients.
Lori Muhr, director of clinical performance improvement and project manager for Code Sepsis at JPS Health, said this is the hospital’s fourth certification by the Joint Commission. It now holds certifications in trauma, stroke, heart attack, and sepsis–which JPS Health calls the nation’s leading causes of death and disability.
“When you have these four certifications, it proves you can take care of anything that comes through the door, and can do it providing the highest quality of care,” Muhr said in a statement.
