HCA’s ‘smoke detector for sepsis’ tool

Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based HCA Healthcare’s Los Robles Health System has created a tool that acts as a “smoke detector for sepsis,” according to an Aug. 26 news release shared with Becker’s.

The algorithmic tool, Sepsis Prediction and Optimization of Therapy, is designed to detect early warning signs of sepsis and enable care teams to respond faster. 

“Sepsis is a medical emergency that must be treated as urgently as a heart attack or stroke,” Gabriella Sherman, MD, chief medical officer of HCA Healthcare’s Far West Division, said in the release. “By using SPOT, we can identify subtle but critical changes in a patient’s condition hours earlier than traditional methods, giving our teams the ability to intervene quickly and save lives.”

SPOT continuously monitors clinical data to spot patterns. If a dangerous pattern consistent with sepsis is detected, an alert is sent directly to the clinical teams’ mobile devices, prompting them to assess the patient and begin treatment if sepsis is confirmed.

The tool rolled out in 2018 and is used by HCA Healthcare hospitals nationwide. In HCA hospitals in California and Nevada alone, more than 3,000 patients with septic shock or severe sepsis have been treated in 2025, with a nearly 90% survival rate. On average, patients were screened within 12 minutes of the SPOT alert.

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