Preventing VTE a key focus for Coastal Accreditation efforts
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is one of the most common and preventable complications of hospitalization for patients. It’s why the importance of Coastal staff and physicians taking steps to identify and prevent the consequences of VTE can’t be overstated as we prepare for Accreditation Canada’s visit this coming June.
“While patients with multi-traumas, major surgery or complex medical conditions have the highest risks for VTE, every patient is at risk and should be assessed for thromboprophylaxis ” say Jacqueline Per, Interim Executive Director, Quality and Patient Safety and Dr. Agnes Lee, Director, Thrombosis Program, VCH, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC.
Overall, VCH does very well in terms of appropriate prophylaxis for our at-risk patients. However, in some of our surgical and medical program areas, there are opportunities for continued focus and improvement.
VCH has taken key steps to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) including:
- Establishing a written policy and practice guidelines,
- Developing customized pre-printed order sets for medical and surgical services
- Promoting ongoing education to support staff and physicians to identify and take appropriate measures for at-risk patients
- Auditing and reporting of appropriate thromboprophylaxis and
- Comparing our performance against these measures to improve our services.
Read the full ROP fact sheet
We’ve created fact sheets for all priority ROPs including VTE prophylaxis that include a checklist of what compliance around each of the elements above looks like as well as links to Practice Guidelines, toolkits and sample questions from surveyors.
Get the VTE Prophylaxis Fact Sheet on VCH-Connect.
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Share this story and the VTE prophylaxis ROP with your team by email and by posting it in your lunchroom.
More stories in this series:
- Preventing pressure ulcers the key to one Coastal ROP
- Accreditation 2015: Are you prepared for questions about falls?
Have questions about VTE prophylaxis?
Contact: Jacqueline Per and Dr. Agnes Lee
- Email: Jacqueline.Per@vch.ca
- Email: alee14@bccancer.bc.ca
Have questions about Coastal Accreditation 2015?
Contact: Jody Sydor Jones
Coastal Director, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety
Email: Jody.SydorJones@vch.ca
Visit the Accreditation site on VCH-Connect