AHRQ Report to Congress Describes Sepsis’ Burgeoning Burden on Hospital Care

According to an AHRQ report to Congress, the number of sepsis-related inpatient stays at non-federal acute care hospitals in the United States increased from 1.8 million in 2016 to 2.5 million in 2021, with a faster rate of increase following the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020.

From 2016 to 2021, the aggregate hospital cost for inpatient stays due to sepsis at non-Federal acute-care hospitals in the United States increased from $31.2 billion to $52.1 billion, according to the report. Sepsis is a dysregulated systemic inflammatory response to infection that results in tissue damage and organ failure and can lead to death.

AHRQ’s comprehensive federal analysis, based on data from the agency’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), includes detailed information on national trends in hospital utilization, morbidity, and in-hospital mortality; trends for key patient populations; disparities in hospital utilization for sepsis and associated outcomes; and state variations in hospital utilization and associated costs, and in-hospital mortality rates.

Select to access the news release and additional AHRQ resources on sepsis.