Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Health Care Unions

Baldwin Park Medical Center UBT Consultant Charisse Lewis; Administration Area Medical Director John Bigley; Critical Care RN Sheryl Magpali, UNAC/AFSCME; Critical Care and Clinical Operations Director Felipe Garcia.

Treating for VTE can be essential for post-operative patients. Pictured left to right is the Baldwin Park Critical Care team: UBT Consultant Charisse Lewis; Administration Area Medical Director John Bigley; Critical Care RN Sheryl Magpali, UNAC/AFSCME; Critical Care and Clinical Operations Director Felipe Garcia.

Coordinate Orders to Save Lives

Following through on orders for venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important post-operative step to reduce complications and chances of death. The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) created by the Joint Commission established measures that include how many patients receive these orders and also how many receive antibiotics. The Baldwin Park Medical Center worked with pharmacists and other staff to increase compliance to the 96.2 percentile and eventually to the top percentile, ensuring that all patients were receiving VTE prophylaxis orders.

Here's What Worked

Educating about the proper use of VTE orders for post-operative patients
Coordinating with pharmacists and other teams to ensure orders are followed
Outlining how the Joint Commission's SCIP guidelines can help improve compliance

What can your team do to work with other teams to improve outcomes for patients?

96.2

percentile reached when multi-team effort complied with SCIP VTE prophylaxis order guidelines

Coordinate Orders to Save Lives

Here's What Worked

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