34,000-patient study shows rapid sepsis diagnostic reduces mortality at scale
SCCM 2026 presentation reports 19% reduction in sepsis mortality and double-digit operational improvements across four hospitals
26 Mar 2026Industry news
Cytovale® has announced new multicenter, real-world data demonstrating that clinical and operational improvements in sepsis care first observed at a high-volume emergency department (ED) in Baton Rouge, La., were successfully replicated across four additional hospitals within Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FMOL) Health.
In a one-year pre- and post-implementation analysis of more than 34,000 ED patients with suspected infection, expansion of the IntelliSep® rapid host-response sepsis diagnostic beyond the initial site was associated with a 20%+ reduction in mortality and resource utilization.
The findings, presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) 2026 Critical Care Congress, suggest that leveraging IntelliSep to enable early sepsis detection can drive repeatable patient-centered outcomes in diverse ED settings.
Across the four hospitals, ranging from tertiary care to community hospitals, key findings included:
- 19% relative reduction in sepsis mortality, driven by earlier identification of high-risk patients and faster initiation of life-saving treatment.
- 22% relative reduction in mortality among patients initially suspected of sepsis who were ultimately not septic. By quickly ruling out sepsis, IntelliSep enabled clinicians to identify and treat the true underlying condition sooner.
- 20% increase in ED discharges with no increase in seven‑day revisit rates.
- 30% decrease in blood culture utilization, concentrated among patients ultimately not diagnosed with sepsis, while maintaining greater than 90% utilization among confirmed sepsis patients.
“After a peer-reviewed study1 of our initial implementation at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLORMC) showed the real-world impact of IntelliSep, we were confident that we wanted to expand the use of the test at other hospitals in our health system,” said Christopher Thomas, MD, Chief Quality Officer at FMOL Health.
“What’s most compelling about this new data is how consistently those clinical and operational improvements appeared across every participating hospital, from large tertiary centers to community hospitals. IntelliSep demonstrated that it can scale across any environment with repeatable, meaningful impact, giving clinicians faster, more accurate insight when evaluating patients for sepsis,” he added.
This study represents the first multicenter evaluation of IntelliSep’s real-world impact across hospitals serving diverse communities. The initiative began at OLOLRMC, the system’s highest-volume ED.
Following observed improvements in clinical and operational metrics, the approach was expanded to St. Elizabeth Hospital, a 78-bed community hospital in Gonzales, La.; Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, a 340-bed hospital in Lafayette, La.; St. Francis Medical Center, a 330-bed Level 3 trauma center in Monroe, La.’ and St. Dominic Hospital, a 570-bed tertiary care hospital in Jackson, Miss.
“At St. Francis Medical Center, IntelliSep has strengthened early decision‑making and improved both ED discharges and blood culture utilization,” said John Bruchhaus, MD, Chief Medical Officer at St. Francis Medical Center. “IntelliSep has decreased our diagnostic utilization costs while improving mortality and decreasing length of stay at our facility. It has become a vital tool in our everyday practice when treating sepsis.”
References
1. Thomas, CB, Wyler, B, D’Antonio, CM, Laperouse, M, et al. Impact of a Sepsis Quality Improvement Initiative on Clinical and Operational Outcomes. Healthcare 2025, 13(11), 1273; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13111273
