Patient Safety Series: System-Wide Sepsis Mortality Improvement Initiative
Includes a Live Web Event on 09/26/2025 at 12:00 PM (EDT)
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When MedStar Health identified performance gaps in a key sepsis quality indicator, a multidisciplinary quality improvement team launched a systemwide initiative to reduce inpatient sepsis mortality. Using a modified DMAIC framework, the team conducted a pilot project at MedStar Washington Hospital Center focused on improving care for patients with sepsis not present on admission. Through data mining, process mapping, and engagement with frontline staff, three priority areas emerged: earlier identification of high-risk patients, timely antibiotic administration, and faster escalation to higher levels of care.
This session will detail the redesign of clinical workflows, including the addition of qSOFA scoring, streamlined escalation protocols, and new guidelines to reduce delays in antibiotic administration. Since implementation, the Sepsis Mortality Index at the pilot site has decreased by 20%, with an estimated 77 lives saved. In addition to improving clinical outcomes, the initiative helped close sepsis mortality disparities across racial, language, and payer groups through standardized, evidence-based practices. Attendees will gain insight into a replicable, data-driven approach for improving sepsis outcomes while advancing health equity across complex healthcare systems.
Tony Calabria, MA, CPHQ, CSSBB
Senior Director, Hospital Quality Programs and Clinical Quality
MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety
Tony Calabria, MA, CPHQ, CSSBB, has worked in healthcare quality and safety for nearly 20 years, with a strong background in CMS and HSCRC Quality Pay for Performance and Reputational Programs, Process Improvement, and Healthcare Data Analytics. He’s currently the Senior Director of Hospital Quality Programs and Clinical Quality for the MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety, an Instructor for the Executive Master’s program for Clinical Quality, Safety & Leadership at Georgetown University, and former President and current Board Member of the Maryland Association for Healthcare Quality (MAHQ). As Senior Director of Hospital Quality Programs and Clinical Quality, Tony serves as the subject matter expert on hospital quality metrics and programs, leads activities to improve clinical quality performance, and supports the analytical needs of the system and hospital leadership. In his role as Instructor in Medicine, he teaches a course in Quality and Process Improvement Tools and Methodologies for Georgetown University and is guest faculty for The Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety (AELPS). As a Board Member of the Maryland Association for Healthcare Quality, Tony oversees the work of the association to fulfill its mission to provide professional development to healthcare quality professionals across the state of Maryland.
Miriam Fischer, MD, FACEP
Senior Attending Emergency Medicine Physician, Medstar Washington Hospital Center Medstar Health System Sepsis Physician Lead Assistant Professor, Georgetown University School of Medicine
MedStar Washington Hosptial Center
Miriam Fischer, MD, FACEP is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician. She is affiliated with every MedStar Health Hospital and works clinically at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in the Emergency Department. Dr. Fischer is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Before joining MedStar Health, Dr. Fischer worked in the Emergency Department at Inova Fairfax Hospital and had appointments at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Aside from her clinical work, Dr. Fischer is the lead physician for the sepsis initiative for MedStar Health. In this role, she works collaboratively with all the hospitals, along with corporate leadership to decrease sepsis deaths by improving identification and care for septic patients across MedStar.
Dr. Fischer has an interest in improving patient outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. She was a physician leader in a MedStar Health campaign with local sports teams to raise awareness and educate the public on doing CPR and using AEDs. The campaign had an additional focus on health equity. Dr. Fischer is also an on-field Airway Management Physician for the NFL through the MedStar Ravens Collaborative.
Dr. Fischer believes in thoughtful, compassionate, and high-quality medical care. She is a staunch advocate for her patients and for her community.
Patrick Gaume, MBA
Performance Improvement Manager
MedStar Health
Patrick Gaume serves as a Performance Improvement Manager in MedStar Health’s Performance Improvement & Analytics department. In this role, he leads and facilitates performance improvement projects with multidisciplinary teams across the hospital system, utilizing Lean Six Sigma, Change Management, and Project Management to help teams achieve positive and sustainable change. Throughout his healthcare career, he has worked on projects ranging from improving the identification and prioritization of critically ill septic patients to increasing efficiency within the Central Sterile Processing department and reducing redundancy in OR instrument sets.
Before transitioning to healthcare, Patrick was a Product Engineer at an automotive supplier, where he led process improvement projects that decreased scrap and improved quality across the organization.
Patrick holds an MBA as well as a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is passionate about teaching and mentoring others and enjoys being a driving factor in moving healthcare into a more highly reliable and data-driven direction.
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