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MURRAY – For decades, little was known about the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and sepsis – but that could change.

“The reality is that apples and pneumonia and sepsis are just like bananas, oranges, apples, papayas and guavas, and we thought they were all good for fruit and apples,” said Dr. Samuel Brown, vice president of research and research professor at Intermountain Health. .

Intermountain Health announced Tuesday that the nation’s largest group of 22 hospitals and a clinical coordinating center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been selected as one of six major health care systems to lead a national effort to improve care for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and sepsis — the most common and critically ill patients. Very poor conditions.

Together, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and sepsis kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. Acute respiratory failure and sepsis are often caused by pneumonia, a syndrome in itself, the outcome is poor: up to 50% mortality, and for survivors there is often a reduced quality of life and a risk of premature death, a press release from Intermountain Health .

The federally funded initiative will provide hospitals with a $51.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help nearly 5,000 patients across the country better understand what’s going on during and after their illness.

“What we’re really trying to do is identify what are the subtypes of these larger syndromes so that we can get different treatments for people,” Brown said. “Many of us are very hopeful that this will be an important next step in finding effective treatments for these devastating diseases.”

Chem C Gardner Transformation Center.  Intermountain Health was selected Tuesday as one of six health systems in the U.S. to lead a national effort to improve patient outcomes for the most common conditions in critically ill patients.
Chem C Gardner Transformation Center. Intermountain Health was selected Tuesday as one of six health systems in the U.S. to lead a national effort to improve patient outcomes for the most common conditions in critically ill patients. (Photo: Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

According to a release from Intermountain Health, the consortium will begin enrolling patients in early 2024.

“It is completely consensual and they are invited to participate in this national group of 5,000 patients. We learn what is happening to them in the hospital or in the intensive care unit,” said Brown, who said that researchers will study. By collecting data on patients through assessments such as blood and genetic tests.

“We want to make sure we understand not only what determines living or dying from acute illness, but what are the right ways to work with people who are lucky enough to survive to maximize their health and improve their survival,” he added.

Additionally, the initiative uses advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve patient care. In particular, AI can be used to identify patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed – a task that Intermountain Health and the rest of the healthcare system lean towards.

Dr. Samuel Brown, vice president of research at Intermountain Health, said in Murray that Intermountain Health was selected as one of six health systems in the United States to lead a national effort to improve patient outcomes for the most common conditions in critically ill patients.  In a press release on Tuesday.
Dr. Samuel Brown, vice president of research at Intermountain Health, said in Murray that Intermountain Health was selected as one of six health systems in the United States to lead a national effort to improve patient outcomes for the most common conditions in critically ill patients. In a press release on Tuesday. (Photo: Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

“One of the key features of what we’re doing in this alliance is using AI machine learning to take the hundreds and thousands of variables associated with each individual and try to aggregate those thousands of variables into specific groups or subtypes,” Brown said.

This feeds into the coalition’s goal of better understanding the different types of acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and sepsis.

For Brown and Intermountain Health, the opportunity to serve as one of the consortium’s six lead sites — along with the University of California San Francisco, the University of Colorado, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University Medical Center — is a testament to the power of Intermountain’s legacy.

“We’re now able to continue to lead national scientific investigations and integrated planning in these areas,” Brown said. “

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Logan Stefanich is a KSL.com reporter covering Southern Utah communities, education, business and military news.

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