Page 1 GAO-25-107357 DOD Sepsis
Sepsis—a health condition caused by an extreme response to infection in the
body—can be life-threatening and requires prompt medical care. Sepsis is a
leading cause of hospital admissions and deaths, and its significance has been
compared to heart attacks or strokes.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for providing health care to
millions of beneficiaries, including care that could involve the diagnosis and
treatment of sepsis. Approximately 9.4 million beneficiaries, including service
members, retirees, and their dependents, are eligible to receive health services
through DOD. DOD’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) provides these health
services through DHA-operated military medical treatment facilities (referred to
as the direct care system). DHA also pays for health services provided to
beneficiaries through networks of civilian providers that are administered under
contract (referred to as the private sector care system).
The House Report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2024 includes a provision for GAO to report on various issues related
to sepsis within DOD. (H. Rpt. No. 118-125 at 212 (June 30, 2023)
accompanying Pub. L. No. 118-31, 137 Stat. 136 (2023).) This report describes
admissions involving sepsis at military medical treatment facilities and sepsis
management efforts within DHA, including what entities focus on sepsis, what
information is tracked, and selected military medical treatment facility
experiences with sepsis diagnosis and treatment.
• DHA data show that the number of inpatient admissions at military medical
treatment facilities that involved sepsis was relatively consistent from fiscal
year 2017 through fiscal year 2023 and accounted for approximately 1
percent of total inpatient admissions.
• DHA formed a Sepsis Working Group in 2021 to standardize efforts related to
sepsis detection, diagnosis, and treatment. In February 2025, DHA released
a policy memorandum on this condition developed by the Sepsis Working
Group.
• DHA tracks information on four sepsis-related quality measures. Military
medical treatment facilities generally performed comparable to, or better than,
the benchmark rates for all hospitals applicable to calendar year 2023.
• Staff we interviewed at military medical treatment facilities did not report
experiencing any major challenges specific to sepsis diagnosis and
treatment.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Information on Sepsis
-25-107357
to Congressional Committees
