FAST Program Implementation Guide Success

Jefferson Antithrombotic Therapy Team. Front row L to R: Photi Galanis, MD, Julia Westfield, Heather Yenser, CRNP. Back row L to R: Lynda Thomson, PharmD, Dina Orapallo, CRNP, Geno Merli, MD, Tony Macchiavelli, MD, Walter Kraft, MD, Luis Eraso, MD Hospital clinicians know well that managing anticoagulation therapy for their patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and other thrombotic conditions can be a balancing act between preventing further life-threatening blood clots and avoiding dangerous bleeds—both high-risk adverse events leading to diminished quality of life and worse, for patients. These challenges are intensified at the time of hospital discharge when poorly executed handoffs and transitions can lead to a variety of negative outcomes.1 Meanwhile, the disruptions and additional clotting concerns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have further complicated this tightrope walk. But hospitalists can now turn to the lessons from SHM’s Facilitation of Anticoagulation for Safer Transitions (FAST) quality-improvement program, which ran for 20 months from 2019 to 2021. Seven hospitals of diverse sizes and settings were enrolled in FAST’s Mentored Implementation program, receiving guidance from clinician experts in VTE and anticoagulation. The bundle of interventions implemented by the hospitals to improve transitions of care for VTE patients is summarized in the implementation guide and other SHM FAST resources on SHM’s website.  Dr. Thomson The statistics ...
Source: The Hospitalist - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Education Patient Safety Practice Management Quality Improvement Transitions of Care Venous Thromboembolism Source Type: research