A Review of the IMPROVE Risk Score to Reduce Hospital Readmissions from Venous Thromboembolism: A Community Hospital Quality Improvement Initiative
Hospitalization is one of the highest risk factors for acquiring venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of newly diagnosed VTEs occur within 30 to 60 days after a patient’s hospital discharge. Financially, medical institutions are scrutinized for every 30-day readmission and frequently penalized with reductions in insurance reimbursement. The objective of this study is to evaluate the incidence of hospital readmissions with newly found VTEs and apply the International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) Risk Score to assess for preventive measures. 348 patients met the inclusion criteria for readmission with a primary or secondary VTE diagnosis. The patients were further sub-categorized based on their risk of VTE development: Low Risk, Moderate Risk, or High Risk. By incorporating the IMPROVE Risk Score, our study demonstrated that even Low-Risk patients were subjected to VTE development. In conclusion, all hospitalized patients need to be assessed for VTE risk and provided individual mitigation strategies prior to discharge.
