A 59-cent sterilizing sponge and an additional minute to draw each patient?s blood have helped Memorial Medical Center save at least $2 million in health-care costs over the past two years. More important, the modification Memorial adopted for testing patients' blood for dangerous infections such as sepsis has meant quicker and more appropriate medical responses to those infections. Patients have suffered less as a result, and it's likely that some lives have been saved, Memorial officials say. "It's provided physicians with the right information sooner," said David Neff, a Memorial project leader for operations improvement.
