The Sepsis Denial Crisis in Hospital Revenue Cycles Sepsis-related DRG downgrades are among the most financially damaging and preventable forms of revenue leakage hospitals face. When payers retrospectively challenge sepsis diagnoses and downgrade them to simple infections or pneumonia, the financial hit is immediate: $3,000 to $7,000 lost per case, and over $15,000 for more complex claims. But the impact goes deeper. These downgrades reduce your Case Mix Index (CMI), lowerin