Tampa General Hospital First Academic Health System in Southeast to Adopt Innovative Host-Response Technology to Advance Sepsis Care

MeMed BV provides results in 15 minutes to help clinicians distinguish bacterial from viral infections, building on Tampa General's nationally recognized efforts to improve the early detection and treatment of sepsis.

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is advancing its longstanding commitment to improving sepsis care as the first academic health system in the Southeast to adopt MeMed BV®, an innovative diagnostic test that reads the body's immune response to help clinicians rapidly distinguish between bacterial and viral infections.

The FDA-cleared technology provides results in approximately 15 minutes, giving emergency care teams additional information at a critical point in the clinical decision-making process. At Tampa General, the test has been integrated directly into the health system's existing electronic health record (EHR)-based ED sepsis alert workflow, helping clinicians determine which patients may require antibiotics and hospitalization — and which may not.

The adoption follows extensive research led by Tampa General and USF Health physicians. In a study of both adult and pediatric emergency department patients, Tampa General conducted the largest sepsis study to date using host immune-response technology, demonstrating how the technology can be incorporated into a real-world sepsis workflow to support clinical decision-making.

"Sepsis requires us to move quickly, but speed alone isn't enough. Our teams also need the most precise information possible to make the right decision for each patient," said Michele Moran, MBA, MSN, RN, senior vice president of the Emergency Services Institute at Tampa General Hospital. "We have made a sustained commitment to improving how we identify and respond to sepsis, and by bringing emerging, evidence-based technology directly into the workflow our clinicians already use, we can give them more information sooner and continue to advance the quality of care we provide."

The study evaluated 893 adult emergency department patients between September 2024 and October 2025. Researchers assessed how adding MeMed BV to the existing sepsis alert workflow could help clinicians more accurately distinguish patients likely to have bacterial infection from those unlikely to have sepsis.

The findings demonstrated measurable clinical and operational impact. With MeMed BV, 26% more patients were reclassified as unlikely to have sepsis, while cefepime (a powerful antibiotic) exposure decreased by 33% and hospitalizations decreased by 13% in patients with a Sepsis Alert. A preliminary cost-benefit analysis also estimated approximately $179,000 in savings per 100 patients through decreased admissions and decreased length of stay.

This research was presented from the podium at two major national scientific meetings in 2026: the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting in May and the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) meeting in July.

"Sepsis is a clinical emergency, but one of the challenges we face is that its early signs can overlap with many other conditions. At the point of a sepsis alert, we need to determine quickly whether we are dealing with a bacterial infection that requires multiple doses of intravenous antibiotics and hospitalization or whether another explanation is more likely," said Jason Wilson, MD, PhD, FACEP, chair, USF Emergency Medicine, and chief, emergency medicine. "Our research evaluated whether host-response testing could provide meaningful information at precisely that decision point. The results gave us the evidence to take the next step — moving this technology from research into our live clinical workflow. That translation of research into practice is fundamental to the role of an academic health system."

Sepsis is the body's extreme response to an infection and is a life-threatening medical emergency that requires rapid recognition and treatment. Each year, approximately 1.7 million adults in the United States develop sepsis, and at least 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or are discharged to hospice, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Because sepsis can progress rapidly and may result from bacterial, viral or other infections, quickly understanding the underlying infection can help clinicians make more informed treatment decisions.

Unlike traditional diagnostic tests that look directly for a specific pathogen, MeMed BV analyzes how the patient's immune system is responding to an infection. The test measures three immune-system proteins — TRAIL, IP-10 and CRP — and combines them using a validated algorithm to generate a score reflecting the likelihood that an infection is bacterial versus viral. The result is intended to complement a clinician's evaluation and other findings to inform decisions about antibiotic use and patient management.

The test runs on MeMed Key®, a compact point-of-need analyzer that uses a small blood sample and returns results in approximately 15 minutes. More precise information about whether an infection is bacterial or viral can help clinicians target antibiotics to patients who need them while avoiding unnecessary antibiotic exposure when they do not, supporting both individual patient care and broader antibiotic stewardship efforts.

"Tampa General represents exactly what we envisioned for host-response technology: giving clinicians fast, clear information from the patient's own immune response at a moment when that information can make a meaningful difference," said Eran Eden, PhD, co-founder and CEO of MeMed. "What makes this collaboration particularly significant is Tampa General's commitment not only to adopting innovation, but to rigorously studying it in real-world care and generating evidence that can help inform the broader clinical community. Together, we are working to advance more precise decision-making around infection and antibiotic use."

The integration of MeMed BV builds on Tampa General's broader strategy to transform the early identification and treatment of sepsis through data, technology and clinical innovation. Through an ongoing strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to enhance care coordination, Tampa General developed the Sepsis Hub, part of the academic health system's Care Coordination Center, known as C3. The technology brings together real-time clinical data to help teams identify patients at risk for sepsis and enable earlier clinical intervention. The initiative has contributed to significant improvements in sepsis care at Tampa General, including reductions in early sepsis mortality and hospital length of stay.

The addition of host-response testing brings another layer of information to that strategy. While the Sepsis Hub helps care teams identify and respond to patients at risk, MeMed BV provides clinicians with additional biological information about the nature of a patient's infection at a critical point in the care journey.

Together, these efforts demonstrate Tampa General's approach to defining academic medicine: identifying complex clinical challenges, evaluating emerging solutions through rigorous research and translating evidence into clinical practice to elevate care for patients.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, Florida's premier academic health system, is a 1,530-bed not-for-profit network of hospital and outpatient services spanning Florida. As the only center for Level I trauma and a comprehensive burn care center serving 23 counties, Tampa General delivers world-class care. The system's hospitals include Tampa General Hospital, Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital, Tampa General Behavioral Health Hospital, all in Tampa; Tampa General Brooksville, Tampa General Spring Hill and Tampa General Crystal River. Tampa General is the highest-ranked hospital in Tampa Bay in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-2027 Best Hospitals for 11 consecutive years, with five medical specialties ranking among the top 50, two additional medical specialties ranked among the top 100 best hospital programs and two specialties ranked in the top 10% in the United States. As the first hospital in Florida to open a clinical command center for real-time situational awareness, the academic health system has elevated its digital care coordination center to the next level by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and its analytics platform across inpatient and outpatient care to ensure patients receive leading-edge care as quickly and safely as possible. Tampa General's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by four prestigious Forbes magazine rankings — in the 2026 America's Best Large Employers ranked as the Tampa Bay region's #1 employer in the healthcare category for the sixth year in a row, the 2026 America's Best Employers for Company Culture, in the top 100 for the 2026 America's Best Employers for New Grads and the 2026 America's Best Employers for Women.

Tampa General is the area's safety-net hospital, caring for anyone regardless of ability to pay; in fiscal year 2024, Tampa General provided a net community benefit of approximately $289.1 million in the form of healthcare for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is recognized as one of the leading adult solid organ transplant centers in the nation and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General transports critically injured or ill patients from surrounding counties to receive the advanced care their conditions require. Tampa General has a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General's footprint includes TGH North, which consists of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties; Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices; TGH Family Care Center Kennedy; TGH outpatient centers; TGH Virtual Health; and TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care, powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

ABOUT MEMED
At MeMed, our mission is to translate the immune system's complex signals into simple insights that transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated, profoundly benefiting patients and society.

MeMed BV® is the first FDA-cleared host-immune response test for accurately distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections in 15 minutes, based on the body's immune response. In addition to running on the MeMed Key® platform, MeMed BV is available on the Diasorin LIAISON® platform, and soon to be available on Beckman Coulter systems.

MeMed BV Flex™ has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation as a host-response test designed to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections using a few drops of capillary blood and is intended for use across hospitals as well as CLIA-waived and decentralized care settings. *MeMed BV Flex™ is an investigational device and has not been approved or cleared for sale by any regulatory authority.

MeMed Severity™ has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation as a host-response test designed to predict severe outcomes up to 72 hours and mortality 14 days in advance in patients with acute infections and suspected sepsis. *MeMed Severity is not yet cleared for sale in any territory.

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Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR
Assistant Manager
Publications & Physician Communications
(727) 510-6363 (cell)
[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital