JAMA ( IF 55 ) Pub Date : 2017-09-13 , DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.13697 Kristina E. Rudd 1 , Anthony Delaney 2 , Simon Finfer 3
Sepsis, most succinctly defined as organ dysfunction due to infection, is estimated to account for more than 5 million deaths around the world each year and to cause or contribute to approximately half of all deaths occurring in hospitals in the United States.1,2 A 2016 report from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project estimated the cost of treating sepsis in US hospitals in 2013 at $24 billion, making it the most expensive condition treated in US hospitals among all payers.3 In recent years, the substantial burden of sepsis at the individual, health system, and societal levels has become increasingly recognized by the medical community and the public, culminating in the World Health Organization (WHO) adopting the Improving the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Sepsis resolution at the World Health Assembly in May 2017.4