Ahead of Sepsis Awareness Month 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shared new findings from the 2025 National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Annual Survey, which show continued progress in implementing CDC’s Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements.

With backing from End Sepsis, the CDC’s Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements were established in August 2023 to improve programs that support the care of patients with sepsis. Progress is now tracked annually, with 5,430 acute care and critical access hospitals completing the 2025 survey. 

While prior reports have focused on facility responses to specific questions from the annual survey, the CDC analyzed this year’s survey thematically to quantify uptake of 28 Sepsis Program Priorities, a list of concrete recommendations that reflect best practices. This year’s survey results showed nationwide increases in uptake of these best practices across 24 of the 28 Sepsis Program Priorities compared to 2024.

However, the CDC did highlight that opportunities for improvement remain, including strengthening leadership structures, improving technological support, and enhancing performance feedback to frontline clinical staff. 

“The Hospital Sepsis Core Elements are a useful tool for individual hospitals to track their uptake of best practices that ensure optimal care for patients with sepsis,” the CDC said on Tuesday.

“Hospitals can use CDC’s Sepsis Core Elements resources to implement an effective sepsis program at their facility.”

You can read “Hospital Sepsis Management and Practices: Findings from the 2025 NHSN Annual Survey” from the CDC online here.