Home Care Association of NYS, Sepsis Alliance and Eddy Visiting Nurse and Rehab Association Develop New Patient Teaching Tools To Support Complex Infusion Care at Home

Innovative new patient teaching tools developed and piloted by Sepsis Alliance, the Home Care Association of New York State (HCA), the Eddy Visiting Nurse and Rehab Association (EVNRA), and a team of collaborating home health agencies will support the increasing medical capability and quality of providing complex infusion care treatments to patients in their own homes. 

These new teaching tools will better procedurally equip patients and caregivers to participate in home infusion by providing increased self-care techniques in infection prevention and safety, and in doing so, will promote quality care and avoidance of infections, infection-related complications, hospitalizations, and the significantly higher associated health care cost. Ultimately, it will promote increased access to in-home infusion treatments wherever possible, where patients and families vastly prefer to receive this care, instead of institution-based treatment. 

Home infusion can be used for a wide range of complex conditions and treatments such as chemotherapy and total parenteral nutrition (provision of nutrition through central lines, or “picc lines,” into to the vascular system). Sterile conditions are essential to ensuring quality treatment, patient safety and sustainability of the treatment approach. Patients’ health, safety, treatment success and optimal access to in-home treatments of this type may now all be enhanced through this new initiative, along with major potential for health care cost savings. 

As part of “Drug Resistance and Anti-Infective Home Infusions: An Educational Program for Chronic Disease Patients and Their Caregivers,” a patient education guide, “zone tool,” and animated videos in English and Spanish are now available for patients and caregivers to help reduce the number of drug-resistant infections that can lead to sepsis cases. These resources are available for download at no cost from Sepsis Alliance.  

Chronic disease patients receiving infusions of antibiotics or antifungals in the home setting have an elevated need for education regarding infection and drug resistance, due to their increased vulnerability. Representing 6 in 10 US adults, patients with chronic disease incur 90% of healthcare costs nationwide. Severe infection progressing to sepsis incurs the highest in-hospital cost of any condition.  

It is estimated that 3 million patients receive home infusions each year with the most common treatment being anti-infective infusions. Without knowledge of drug resistance and appropriate steps to mitigate risk, patients are more likely to experience infections. A Pfizer-funded survey by Sepsis Alliance indicates that nearly a third of US adults have not heard of antibiotic resistance, almost half have not heard of antimicrobial resistance and 75% do not realize that antimicrobial resistance means that drugs used to treat infection no longer work.  

“Sepsis Alliance knows that infection prevention is sepsis prevention,” said Thomas Heymann, Sepsis Alliance President and CEO. “Sepsis is the body’s toxic response to infection and if we are able to help individuals reduce their risk of infection, we can save lives from sepsis. Thank you to HCA for their support on this project that we believe will save lives in this vulnerable population.”  

“Home health care plays an ever-increasing role in nearly all facets of health care, and this includes care at home for some of the most complex conditions and treatments. In addition to support from skilled nurses and other home health clinicians, a core role of home health is its teaching role in providing critical education and skill development for patients and family caregivers. Increasing in-home safety techniques and self-management capability, especially in infection prevention, is hugely consequential for patient health and quality care and outcomes for patients,” said Al Cardillo, president and chief executive officer of HCA. 

“In the case of sepsis specifically, the more we can educate our patients and caregivers, the more we can stop sepsis and other infections before they occur. HCA applauds Sepsis Alliance President Tom Heymann and the Sepsis Alliance team for their leadership in this initiative. We thank New York’s home health agencies and patients who partnered and participated in it, including Rochester Regional, the EVNRA, and Visiting Nursing Association of WNY/VNA Home Care Services (Kaleida Health).” 

“I loved working on this project with Sepsis Alliance,” said Laurie Brann, clinical nurse specialist for IV Therapy, EVNRA. The printed materials are wonderful for patients with the color coding to match the levels of risk. The video helps us complete our initial teaching goals with patients and caregivers, such as safe storage of medicine and supplies and having a clean IV workspace.”  

Funding for this program was provided in part by an independent educational grant from Pfizer, Inc.  

About Sepsis Alliance 
Sepsis Alliance, the first and leading sepsis organization in the U.S., seeks to save lives and reduce suffering by improving sepsis awareness and care. More than 1.7 million people are diagnosed with sepsis each year in the U.S. with more than 350,000 adults dying and over 50% of survivors experiencing post-sepsis syndrome and other lingering effects, including amputations. At Sepsis Alliance’s founding in 2003, only 19% of U.S. adults were aware of the term “sepsis.” After over ten years of educational efforts for the general public and healthcare professionals through Sepsis.org, Sepsis Alliance Institute, and Sepsis Alliance Voices, awareness is at 66%. Over 30,000 healthcare professionals across the country have attended sepsis webinars and courses to elevate their practice. Sepsis Alliance is the convener of Sepsis Innovation Collaborative, a multi-stakeholder public/private collaborative dedicated to innovations in sepsis diagnosis and management. Sepsis Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and a GuideStar Platinum Rated charity. For more information, please visit www.sepsis.org and connect with Sepsis Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn at @SepsisAlliance.  

About HCA 
HCA is a statewide health organization comprised of nearly 300 member providers and organizations delivering home and community-based care to several hundred thousand New Yorkers annually, and works closely with Sepsis Alliance in its sepsis intervention efforts.  

About EVNRA
Eddy Visiting Nurse & Rehab Association is a non-profit certified home health agency serving the Capital Region area of New York State for over 115 years. Specialty services include infusion nursing, palliative care, wound care, and diabetes.