New Study Reveals Rapid Sepsis Test Drives 56% Boost in ED Discharges

Every year, emergency departments (EDs) in the United States record over 155 million visits, with around 20% of adults showing signs of potentially serious infections. One of the most critical choices emergency clinicians must make is determining which of these patients has sepsis and which do not. In situations where time is of the essence, the ability to swiftly and accurately rule out sepsis can significantly influence patient outcomes, the quality of care, hospital finances, and the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.

At the same time, overcrowding in EDs continues to put pressure on hospital operations and affect patient satisfaction. Over a 12-month span, average ED boarding times rose from 167 to 175 minutes, while the percentage of patients leaving without being seen increased from 1.1% to 2.1%, raising serious safety concerns. In such a context, being overly cautious and admitting patients out of concern for sepsis—though done with good intentions—can worsen crowding and slow down treatment for others, including those who are actually septic. Now, new multicenter study data presented at ADLM 2025 reveal that targeted sepsis testing at triage in the ED may be key to preserving inpatient bed capacity for the most severe patients.

Cytovale’s (San Francisco, CA, USA) IntelliSep is a rapid diagnostic tool for sepsis that supports emergency clinicians in making more confident decisions by quickly assessing patients’ sepsis risk. This U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared diagnostic, which provides results in roughly eight minutes from a standard blood draw, can be used at the triage stage to stratify patients based on their risk. The quick results help clinicians distinguish those who can be safely discharged from those needing urgent care and possible hospitalization. The study shared at ADLM 2025 involved 4,650 patients showing signs and symptoms of infection, who were tested with IntelliSep over a four-month period at four hospitals.

Using IntelliSep's rapid host-response test led to a 56% relative increase in discharges from the ED among patients identified as low risk, while simultaneously reducing the use of inpatient beds—without causing a rise in return visits. By applying this risk assessment tool early during triage, clinicians were able to avoid unnecessary admissions and discharge patients more confidently. The findings emphasize that smarter, data-driven sepsis evaluations at triage can have a direct effect on hospital capacity by boosting the number of safe discharge decisions.

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