Post-Discharge VTE Prophylaxis
Background
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious condition that can lead to hospital-related death. According to the CDC, VTE is the leading cause of preventable hospital death in the United States. Each year, approximately 900,000 people in the U.S. are affected by blood clots (DVT/PE), of which approximately 50% are healthcare-associated. Surgery is a major risk factor for VTE, especially lower limb orthopedic procedures (total knee and hip arthroplasty specifically) and abdominal/pelvic surgery for cancer.
About the Project
ISQIC has developed and implemented a best practice adherence measure for post-discharge extended VTE chemoprophylaxis that is particularly useful to hospitals in identifying specific targets for improvement. The major components of the measure include indication, ordering of VTE chemoprophylaxis at the time of discharge, type of chemoprophylaxis ordered, and prescription duration (days). There are reasonable clinical exceptions that allow a patient to pass the measure even if post-discharge VTE chemoprophylaxis was not ordered. A patient only passes the measure if the appropriate type and prescription duration (number of days) of VTE chemoprophylaxis was prescribed at the time of discharge or if a reasonable clinical exception applies.
The post-discharge extended VTE chemoprophylaxis measure can help hospitals identify their local, specific failures regarding appropriately prescribing post-discharge VTE chemoprophylaxis (e.g. type, duration, acceptable exceptions) and reliably benchmark and compare performance between hospitals.
ISQIC’s Post-Discharge VTE Chemoprophylaxis Toolkit provides hospitals with a comprehensive framework to follow for implementing this measure. Click below to view the toolkit.