National Priority
VTE prevention is increasingly incorporated into public reporting, guidelines, regulatory agency priorities, and national quality initiative priorities.
Organizations include:
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): 10 Patient Safety Tips for Hospitals
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): Meaningful Use
- National Quality Forum: Endorsed Performance Measures
- The Joint Commission(TJC): Core Measures
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Partnership for Patients
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Surgeon General's Call to Action
VTE is the most common preventable cause of hospital death.
Despite the reality that almost all hospitalized patients have multiple risk factors for VTE, preventive measures continue to be significantly underutilized.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) calls thromboprophylaxis against VTE the "number one patient safety practice."
The American Public Health Association (APHA) has stated that the "disconnect between evidence and execution as it relates to DVT prevention amounts to a public health crisis."
