title: Venous thromboembolism: a collaborative quality improvement model for practitioners, hospitals, and insurers.
abstract: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) carries significant morbidity and mortality and affects a large portion of hospitalized patients. VTE prophylaxis is rated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as the most effective of 79 patient safety practices it assessed in 2001. Since 1997, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan/Blue Care Network (BCBSM/BCN) have partnered with Michigan hospitals and providers in statewide registry-based collaborative quality improvement initiatives (CQI) aimed at improving the safety and quality of surgical and medical care; many of these collaborative have a particular focus on VTE prevention. The CQIs are uniquely structured to catalyze hospitals and practitioners to become self-optimizing. In this review, we describe the model BCBSM/BCN and participating Michigan hospitals have developed to improve the prevention and diagnosis of VTE for patients in the state of Michigan.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, gbarnes@umich.edu
authors.forename: Geoffrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birkmeyer
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Flanders
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Froehlich
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hemmila
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Henke
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Prager
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leyden
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Share
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000592:standards*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007343:Insurance Carriers / Q000592:standards*; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards*; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*