By Allen Frady, RN-BSN, CCDS, CCS, CRC

You hear it all the time: “We only use SIRS,” “I like sepsis-3 because that’s the way I learned it medical school,” “one of our commercial insurance companies only pays for sepsis-3,” “CMS tells us to use sep-1”. For some unexplainable reason, we appear to be in a battle of Tolkien proportions to discover the one sepsis to rule them all.

But, has it occurred to anyone that all three versions of sepsis have their place, each with its own merits and pitfalls. A truly astute physician would choose whatever clinical criteria best fit the presentation and the patient’s unique clinical scenario. What works for an immunocompromised 5-year-old may not be the best indicators for a healthy 25-year-old Olympic athlete. Patients come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and pre-existing disease states. A patient’s body does not review the cookie-cutter criteria prior to selecting how to respond to an infection or insult.

Let’s take a moment to review some of the benefits and drawbacks of each set of sepsis criteria.

Now that the pre-cons are wrapping up, the ACDIS team is preparing to welcome the 2,000+ attendees to the main conference. As you’re preparing for the next two and a half days of fun and CDI education, we have a few reminders for you.