Case Study: The Venous Thromboembolism Collaborative Team at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

In an effort to combat new regulatory requirements as well as improve the quality of patient care in their facility, the Johns Hopkins Hospital formed a multi-disciplinary Venous Thromboembolism VTE Collaborative in 2005. By implementing a computer based decision support system, the VTE Collaborative was able to implement a tool to screen patients upon admission to the hospital and to assist providers in choosing appropriate prophylaxis for patients based on associated risk. To date, Johns Hopkins Hospital has reduced the incidence of VTE from 2.3 9 of admissions in 2004 to 1.31 in 2008. This change in incidence represents a reduction of over 330 patients per year who do not acquire a VTE during their stay and a potential cost savings of over 1.2 Million annually.