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AHRQ releases new DVT prevention guides

Quality Improvement Monitor, September 19, 2008

Just weeks before CMS’ new no-payment rule goes into effect, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released two new guides to help consumers and clinicians prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

The potentially deadly DVT affects at least 350,000 and possibly as many as 600,000 Americans each year, according to The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism, which was released this week.

AHRQ's consumer booklet, Your Guide to Preventing and Treating Blood Clots, is a 12-page resource that helps both patients and their families identify the causes and symptoms of dangerous blood clots, learn tips on how to prevent them and know what to expect during treatment, according to an AHRQ press release.

The clinician guide, Preventing Hospital-Acquired Venous Thromboembolism: A Guide for Effective Quality Improvement, is a 60-page guide that details how to start, implement, evaluate and sustain a quality improvement strategy. It includes case studies, as well as examples of forms that clinicians in the field can use.

"Blood clots can be a serious condition affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans each year," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, said in a press release "We know how to prevent many of these dangerous blood clots, and these guides will help patients and clinicians put that knowledge to work to improve care."

Beginning October 1, CMS will no longer pay for the treatment of DVT or pulmonary embolism following total knee replacement and hip replacement procedures if those conditions were reasonably preventable. (For more on DVT prevention, read the October Quality Improvement Report).

For more information, click here.

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