PHOENIX – Banner Health is using new technology to combat sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by a bloodstream infection.

Severe sepsis strikes an estimated 750,000 people in the United States each year, according to the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).

Phoenix-based Banner Health, which operates 22 hospitals and healthcare facilities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming, worked with Royal Philips Electronics to implement the Philips VISICU eICU Sepsis Management Program. The program was integrated into existing clinical workflows to facilitate continuous screening and early notification protocols for severe sepsis, as well as improved sepsis bundle compliance.

The program's impact was detailed Monday at SCCM's Critical Care Congress in Miami.

During the three months following implementation of the eICU Sepsis Management Program in a single ICU at Banner Health, the Banner eICU center identified 10 cases of severe sepsis that otherwise might have been missed. As a result, 15 percent of patients with severe sepsis in the ICU received earlier intervention and treatment. In addition, Banner Health achieved a 62 percent bundle compliance rate compared to its baseline rate of 35 percent in the preceding six months.

"This program is part of an ongoing commitment to sepsis management and education which we felt would drive early notification and continuous screening for sepsis," said Crystal Jenkins, a nurse and senior clinical manager of Banner iCare. "The eICU Sepsis Management Program has met our expectations and allowed earlier identification and treatment of the severe sepsis patient, resulting in increased compliance with the sepsis resuscitation bundle."

"Since the implementation of this program, the eICU team has identified additional cases of severe sepsis in the ICU," Jenkins said. "In each of these cases, diagnosis and treatment of severe sepsis occurred earlier than it would have under routine care."

The new program is an extension of the Philips VISICU eICU Program at Banner Health, which has improved the hospital's delivery of evidence-based care to its patients, officials said. The eICU Sepsis Management Program uses predictive algorithms and automates key steps of severe sepsis screening to allow for early identification and improved bundle compliance in the treatment of this life-threatening condition. In addition to impacting earlier treatment, hospitals are also able to more accurately code charges to the proper diagnosis.

Along with the eICU Sepsis Management Program, Philips Healthcare offers additional solutions to improve identification of severe sepsis. By facilitating earlier clinical intervention, officials say these solutions enable hospitals to better address severe sepsis, helping to save more lives and achieve the objectives set forth by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and other related initiatives.