The High Cost and Burden of Sepsis Save

One million people are hospitalized each year with sepsis. This is more than the number of hospitalizations for heart attack and stroke combined. Sepsis can be a particular risk for older people. In 2013 alone, 400,000 Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized because of sepsis at a cost of US$5.5 billion.

A recent study shows that while readmission rates are equal (~20%) for sepsis, CHF and myocardial infarction, the costs are of sepsis far exceeds the others. The estimated annual costs of 30-day readmissions in the state of California during the study period were $500 million/yr for sepsis, $229 million/yr for congestive heart failure, and $142 million/yr for acute myocardial infarction.