title: Treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia before and after the implementation of a hemostatic and antithrombotic stewardship program.
abstract: In October 2013, we implemented a hemostatic and antithrombotic (HAT) stewardship program with the primary focus of ensuring appropriate use of intravenous direct thrombin inhibitors (DTI) in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). We sought to compare the duration and cost of DTI therapy for the management of HIT before and after implementation of the HAT stewardship program. Following institutional review board approval, we conducted a single center, retrospective chart review of all patients with a suspected diagnosis of HIT as assessed by an anti-heparin-PF4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 6 months pre-HAT and post-HAT implementation. Patients were excluded if they were initiated on a DTI at an outside hospital, had a prior episode of HIT, or received mechanical circulatory support. Clinical characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, medications, laboratory values, clinical and safety outcomes, length of stay, and mortality, were collected. A total of 592 patients were included; 333 patients were evaluated pre-HAT, while 259 patients were evaluated post-HAT. The mean duration of DTI treatment was significantly decreased in the post-HAT cohort (6.64 vs 5.17 days, p = 0.01), primarily driven by decreased duration of use for patients with suspected HIT (4.07 vs 2.86 days, p = 0.01). The HAT Stewardship program demonstrated a total decrease in annual costs associated with the diagnosis and management of HIT of $248,500. Our results indicate that the implementation of the HAT stewardship program had a significant impact on reducing the duration and costs of DTI therapy and the costs of laboratory evaluations in the management of HIT at our institution.
authors: Department of Pharmacy, Mayo Clinic, Saint Mary's Campus, 1216 2nd Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55902, USA. ritchie.brianne@mayo.edu.
authors: Brianne M
authors: BM
authors: Ritchie
authors: Department of Pharmacy, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Katelyn W
authors: KW
authors: Sylvester
authors: Department of Pharmacy, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: David P
authors: DP
authors: Reardon
authors: Department of Pharmacy Services, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: William W
authors: WW
authors: Churchill
authors: Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Nancy
authors: N
authors: Berliner
authors: Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Jean M
authors: JM
authors: Connors
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics; D006490:Hemostatics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics; D006493:Heparin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D006490:Hemostatics; D006493:Heparin
keywords: Direct thrombin inhibitors; Hemostatic antithrombotic stewardship; Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia; Heparins