Champions Gather to Reduce In-Hospital Venous Thromboembolism
At a satellite symposium co-sponsored by Medavera, Inc. and held during the annual meetings of the Society of Hospital Medicine, experienced experts will review clinical guidelines, regulatory requirements, and best-practice procedures for reducing occurrence of in-hospital venous thromboembolism.
Springfield, MO (PRWEB) May 5, 2009 -- Medavera, Inc., a leading provider of medical education services, today announced, A Breakfast of Champions: Success with VTE Prophylaxis. Designed to help improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of in-hospital venous thromboembolism (VTE), the gathering of clinical and program experts will convene May 15, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, IL, in parallel with the Annual Meetings of the Society of Hospital Medicine, an organization dedicated to improving hospitalized patient care.
VTE--inclusive of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)--is a significant cause of hospitalized-patient death. In fact, death as a result of in-hospital VTE is five times more likely than due to in-hospital infection. Of the US annual VTE incidence (3 million) and US annual VTE deaths (300,000), a striking 75% of cases are in-hospital. However, a successful VTE prophylaxis program can prevent more than 75% of cases. Despite these truths, most hospitalists face shortfalls in success. VTE Champions is a targeted and comprehensive medical educational program developed to help hospitalists efficiently acquire the knowledge necessary to affect change.
Heather Abdel-Salam, Public Relations & Marketing Coordinator, Society of Hospital Medicine, said, "Ongoing hospitalist education is fundamental to our cause of promoting the highest quality care for hospitalized patients. The Society of Hospital Medicine's annual meeting is the best opportunity for members, and non-members alike, to acquire the knowledge necessary to affect organizational change."
Participants in VTE Champions will review the most current clinical data and regulatory guidelines to better recognize VTE epidemiology, risk factors associated with DVT, as well as benefits and risks of fibrinolytic therapies. Participants also will discuss challenges and opportunities around VTE prophylaxis (VTEP) program implementation.
Highlighting the gathering group's serious call to action, program chair David A. Garcia, Associate Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of New Mexico, Health Sciences Center, said, "Because recently published evidence-based practice guidelines and new mandates from regulatory agencies have highlighted the importance of VTE prevention measures, hospital leaders and front-line caregivers have a new sense of urgency to understand and discuss this topic in a thoughtful and critical manner. We hope the symposium will not only help attendees effect higher rates of appropriate prophylaxis within their respective institutions, but also translate into lower rates of the clinical endpoints our patients want to avoid--symptomatic DVT and PE."
Because many have experienced difficulty translating guidelines into practice, the program specifically is geared to aid attendees in completing the task. Program faculty member Ian H. Jenkins, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, Division of Hospital Medicine, said "Physician champions who assemble the right team and implement a VTEP protocol at their hospital can expect VTEP rates to at least double. With a carefully designed and fine-tuned protocol, education, and active intervention, champions have delivered VTEP to 98% of the patients who needed it, and halved their hospital's rate of pulmonary embolus."
And, participants include those experiencing significant success. Program faculty member Christine M. Lum Lung, MD, FHM, Medical Director, Northern Colorado Hospitalists, said, "Implementation of a preventative program at Poudre Valley Health System has raised the prophylaxis rate by more than 20 percent, to 79% from 58%, in the last 12-16 months. More importantly, we've seen greater than a 50 percent decline in the potentially preventable hospital-acquired VTE rate, from 71% to 16%, during the same period. The VTE Champions program is a chance for us to convey our experiential knowledge and share our program success with hospitalists seeking to do the same."
Additional expert faculty include: Peggy A. Beeley, MD, Associate Professor and Clinical Educator, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico, Health Sciences Center; Allison E. Burnett, PharmD, RPh, PhC, Antithrombosis Pharmacist, University of New Mexico, Health Sciences Center.
Laura McCaskill, President & CEO, Medavera, Inc., program co-sponsor, said "VTE Champions has the potential to be one of our most highly impacting medical education programs. What the subject lacks in glamour, our program delivers in substance; and, as a group we are capable of affecting real change. As always, by bringing together experts in the field, both teachers and practitioners, we at Medavera support caregivers in their call to improve the quality of patient care and of regulatory compliance."
Marilyn Crocker, Chief Executive Officer, Compression Therapy Concepts, an educational supporter of the VTE Champions program, said "Compression Therapy Concepts is proud to support VTE prevention education. The more aware the community is of this modality, the better the care the community is able to offer. Together, we hopefully will make this a risk of the past."
VTE Champions will begin at 6:00 am on May 15, 2009 in Columbus Halls A&B of the Hyatt Regency East Tower in Chicago. Medavera, Inc. and Educational Review Systems are presenting the program, in accordance with the essential areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. bioMérieux, Compression Therapy Concepts, and sanofi aventis have provided educational support for the program.
A question-and-answer session and a panel discussion on "National Patient Safety Goals" will follow the presentations. Attendees will receive a toolbox filled with useful information as well as a CD of key slides. For more information about attending the Annual Meeting of the Society of Hospital Medicine, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org.
About Medavera:
Medavera, Inc. is a medical education company headquartered in Springfield, MO. The company mission is to improve patient health by identifying educational need and transferring medical knowledge with superior communication strategies and tools. For more information, please visit www.medavera.com.
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