Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Hospitalwide DVT Diagnosis and Treatment Process for Improved Quality of Care, Patient Experience and Cost Management

Today more than ever, it is important to focus on reducing unnecessary testing and unneeded emergency department (ED) visits to manage costs. Well-established probability scoring systems for many disease states and hospital electronic medical record systems can be used to help create hospitalwide processes that benefit large groups of patients. Saving patients time and money, as well as knowing the probability of a disease process before alarming patients, also helps improve the patient experience.

Carle Foundation Hospital developed such a process for the diagnosis and treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) that improves the quality of care and patient experience and manages costs. The hospital uses the Wells DVT Probability Scoring System and a D-dimer test to evaluate for DVT to only order a venous duplex if truly necessary. This system helps providers determine the probability that a patient has DVT and determine if further tests are needed, as well as decide whether patients require immediate treatment or if the diagnosis or treatment can wait until the next morning. This is especially important for patients presenting at nights, weekends, and holidays and patients presenting to clinics with limited resources. The hospital gives all providers the tools and resources to diagnose and treat DVT exactly the same way for consistent care.

This case study is part of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association's annual Quality Excellence Achievement Awards. Each year, IHA recognizes and celebrates the achievements of Illinois hospitals and health systems in continually improving and transforming health care in the state. These organizations are improving health by striving to achieve the Triple Aim—improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction), improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care—and the Institute of Medicine’s six aims for improvement—safe, effective, patient centered, timely, efficient and equitable. To learn more, visit https://www.ihaqualityawards.org/javascript-ui/IHAQualityAward/