Fig. 3

Age-adjusted in-hospital mortality rate for severe sepsis according to discharge ICD-9-CM codes. Values are adjusted annual mortality rates. From 2006 to 2011, in-hospital mortality had a significantly decreasing trend in both cohorts. In the combination code cohort in-hospital mortality fell from 37 % in 2006 to 25 % in 2011. In the explicit code cohort, in-hospital mortality fell from 60 % in 2006 to 50 % in 2011. Within the explicit cohort, rates over the same period diminished from 60 % to 50.4 % in the code 785.52 group (septic shock) and from 59 % to 49.6 % in the code 995.92 group (severe sepsis)