Challenges

Sepsis is the leading cause of preventable death in U.S. hospitals with mortality from sepsis increasing 8% for every hour that treatment is delayed. As many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment according to Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Diagnosing sepsis can be difficult because its signs and symptoms can be caused by other disorders and there are no reliable biomarkers before onset. Doctors often must order a battery of tests to try to pinpoint the underlying infection which further delays treatment.

Opportunity

AI is particularly suited to situations where the signals of an issue are hidden by “noise” that obscures the actual problem from clinicians. Diagnosing Sepsis is one of those situations. AI driven early diagnosis based on routine vital signs and metabolic levels from electronic medical records can highlight patients at risk for Sepsis before they are admitted to the ICU where it may already be too late. AI can even be used to predict courses of treatment or dosage levels that are likely to be most effective based on patient history. Though early detection and more precision care, the patient is able to receive less aggressive and less costly treatments which improves patient outcomes and is better for payers and providers.