Welcome to the October 2022 Edition of Sepsis Chatter!
Our newest video presentation is titled: Sepsis Chatter – Determining the Presence of Initial Hypotension
This presentation begins with a review of the data element “Initial Hypotension”, then continues to explore if and when Initial Hypotension is present in the pregnant patient (defined as 20 weeks gestation through day 3 post-delivery) and the non-pregnant patient diagnosed with severe sepsis or septic shock. The following sub-topics will be covered in detail:
- How to Identify the clinical criteria and the acceptable timeframe that determines the onset of Initial Hypotension for the Pregnant and Non-Pregnant patient
- Selecting the correct date and time of onset including when outside documentation is present
- Determining when hypotensive values should be excluded
- Differentiating between Initial Hypotension vs Persistent Hypotension data elements
Each of the covered topics will include specific abstraction guidance that is defined in the current CMS Specifications Manual for National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures. We will review the application of these guidelines using examples and rationale.
*This presentation is based on the information included in the most current version of the Specifications Manual for National Hospital Inpatient Quality version 5.12 (Discharges July 1 through December 31, 2022) *For the most accurate guidance, please refer to the version of the Specifications Manual that corresponds to the Discharge Date(s) that are being reviewed.