The Surviving Sepsis Campaign has set a target reduction in overall mortality due to severe sepsis and septic shock of 25 percent over 5 years.  This measure will allow you to judge how well your institution is performing in achieving that goal.

The measure is defined as the percent of cases of death due to severe sepsis and septic shock.

Numerator: The number of cases of death due to severe sepsis and septic shock

Denominator: The total number of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock

Exclusion: Non-severe sepsis

Decrease mortality due to severe sepsis and septic shock by 25 percent over five years. 

Data is collected for this measure simply by gathering the number of cases of severe sepsis on a monthly basis in the ICU. This is most readily accomplished by tallying the patients daily. This will be your denominator.

As data is gathered, also collect the outcome for the patients on your list, deceased versus alive. Include the monthly number of deaths as your numerator.