National, State, Industry Leaders Gather with HCA and Partners for All Sector, NY Statewide Sepsis Summit
The Situation Report | June 30, 2025
HCANYS and national, state and industry leaders joined on June 25 for a statewide, all-sector summit on sepsis held at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS), in Albany, NY.
Opening the summit was NYS Commissioner of Health, Dr. James, McDonald, MD, MPH, followed by Sepsis Alliance national leader and President Thomas Heymann, testimonials from sepsis survivors, and data, trend and emerging directions in sepsis from experts affiliated with the US Centers for Disease Control, the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, and the NYS Clinical Center at the State Department of Health. Additional presenters included speakers from the Healthcare Association of NYS, University of Pennsylvania and I-TRANSFER initiative, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, HCANYS, ACPHS, IPRO, and a panel that included representatives from nearly every major sector of the health care system.
The summit addressed the latest developments from NY, US and global sepsis leadership, the latest in sepsis quality measurement, clinical and intervention, innovative models of sepsis intervention, and sepsis issue developments, issues and interventions across the continuum.
The compelling facts highlighted at the summit show sepsis to be:
- the #1 cost of care for those admitted to hospitals, at $62 billion for Medicare alone;
- the #1 cause of hospital readmissions;
- #1 in avoidable Medicaid hospitalizations for the overall Medicaid population in NY;
- the #1 cause of death in hospitals;
- top cause of maternal mortality;
- top cause of the rise of neonatal deaths
- 65+ percent in the elderly
- 87% originating at home and community, with the highest risks mirrored in the home health population, and
- estimated preventable/mitigatable 80%+ of the time.
Next steps will be post-summit action planning with key summit partners, to which all summit participants are being invited. The action planning will focus on steps that can be taken individually by practitioners and organizations, by the sectors, and critically, in collaboration across sectors, to improve the response to sepsis in the health care system. HCANYS and organizational partners will be summarizing the summit recommendations and then working both across the continuum and with state and federal officials to coordinate and garner support.
A summit resource page was developed by HCA Communications Director Brandon Vogel that contains background on the summit, presenter slides, as well as important assistive resources on sepsis.
HCANYS urges all providers and health plan members to get involved. The statistics and the opportunities for home- and community-based providers to make a difference are profound. HCANYS has major resources for members at the clinical, direct care worker, provider/plan, and patient/family educational levels, especially HCANYS' nationally pacing Sepsis Screening and Intervention Tool for home care. Contact