CDC Challenge Winners!

On March 29, 2016 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized 8 public and private healthcare practices and systems across the country as the 2015 HA-VTE Prevention Challenge Champions for their success in helping patients prevent healthcare-associated blood clots.

A blood clot that occurs as a result of hospitalization, surgery, or other healthcare treatment or procedure is called healthcare-associated venous thromboembolism or HA-VTE for short. Blood clots are a costly and deadly public health issue. Approximately 900,000 Americans are affected by blood clots each year and half of these are related to a recent hospitalization or surgery. An estimated 100,000 Americans die of a blood clot each year. Although up to 70% of healthcare-associated blood clots are preventable, fewer than 50% of patients actually receive preventive treatment. Preventing HA-VTE can lead to major decreases in patient illness, financial costs, and death.

To support and promote HA-VTE prevention, HHS and CDC launched the 2015 HA-VTE Prevention Challenge on November 2, 2015. The goal of the challenge was to identify hospitals, multi-hospital systems, hospital networks, and managed care organizations that have implemented innovative and effective VTE prevention strategies.

The challenge ended on January 10, 2016 and judging is now complete. The 2015 HA-VTE Prevention Challenge Champions range from single hospitals to large healthcare systems from both urban and rural areas.

Together, they cared for over 450,000 patients across the United States in 2014. These champions were able to improve VTE prevention within their institutions and organizations by implementing innovative, effective and sustainable VTE prevention initiatives and strategies such as

• Engaging teams of health care professionals including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others to support and promote prevention activities;
• Providing education to and increasing awareness among patients and providers of the need for and benefits of prevention;
• Using technology (such as electronic risk assessment and clinical decision support tools and alerts) to ensure that all patients are assessed for their risk for VTE and bleeding. These tools also help ensure patients, when appropriate, are provided with and use appropriate prevention measures for their level of risk;
• Providing real-time feedback, scorecards and dashboards for providers and organizations to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement.

CDC also recognizes and highlights four organizations that received Honorable Mentions for their innovative and unique approaches to prevention in special populations and settings. These included a post-discharge monitoring program, a unique ambulation program for psychiatric inpatients, an innovative prophylaxis-dosing protocol for hospital trauma units, and an international submission on risk assessment for obstetric patients.

CDC, along with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is proud to share the success of these organizations and highlight their innovative strategies that have resulted in exceptional VTE prevention outcomes.

Congratulations, Champions!

The 2015 HA-VTE Prevention Challenge Champions are

Healthcare Network or Multi-Hospital System (Large Reach)

• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
• University of California Health, Center for Health Quality and Innovation, Oakland, California

Healthcare Network or Multi-Hospital System (Medium Reach)

• University of Wisconsin Health, Madison, Wisconsin
• Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, Utah

Large Single Hospital (Large Reach)

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
• The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland

Single Hospital (Small to Medium Reach)

• Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
• Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, Hutchinson, Kansas

Honorable mentions were awarded to:

• Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium, Ann Arbor, MI
• University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
• Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• Sheppard Pratt Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Eligible entrants had to be a healthcare organization with a successful and innovative HA-VTE prevention strategy. Specifically, we sought submissions from

• U.S. non-federal hospitals
• Multi-hospital systems
• Hospital networks
• Managed care organizations
• U.S. federal entities and international entities (eligible for non-cash award recognition only)

Summaries of the winning strategies will be posted on our website. Please visit HA-VTE Prevention Challenge and the 2015 Champions for more information.