Physician Variation in Early Sepsis Management

Are sepsis treatment practice patterns characterized by faster antimicrobial initiation associated with increased overtreatment, and what are their mechanisms?In this mixed-methods study of 9810 patients and 88 treating physicians, emergency department physicians with faster patterns of antimicrobial initiation practice described a proactive, parallel processing approach to sepsis care and empowerment to overcome system-level obstacles but did not exhibit increased overtreatment.These findings suggest that individual and team-based methods to facilitate prompt antimicrobial administration for sepsis are unlikely to increase unnecessary antimicrobial treatment.

Corresponding Author: Ithan D. Peltan, MD, MSc, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Intermountain Medical Center, 5121 S Cottonwood St, Salt Lake City, UT (ithan.peltan@imail.org).

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