Economic and Social Burden of Severe Sepsis

Sepsis is highly prevalent within intensive care units (ICUs) and is associated with elevated rates of morbidity and mortality [1, 2, 3], and high costs [4, 5, 6, 7]. For these reasons, healthcare providers, managers, government authorities, and insurance companies have focused their attention on strategies that could reduce the economic and social burden of sepsis. In the healthcare system, ICUs consume a considerable amount of resources and have frequently been considered the target for efforts to reduce escalating medical expenses.