cians more vigilant about diagnosing
sepsis. Reimbursement
formulas are making hospitals
more diligent about coding for
sepsis and acute organ dysfunction.
Both trends are compounded
by the subjective nature of the
diagnosis. The current standard
definition for sepsis includes criteria
such as “suspected infection”
and requires nuanced judgments
about whether to attribute organ
dysfunction to infection. The definition
thus allows both clinicians
and hospitals considerable discretion
when diagnosing and coding
for sepsis.