Healthcare-associated blood clots : minimize your risk
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    The Problem: Healthcare-associated venous thromboembolism (blood clots) is a significant, deadly, costly, and growing public health problem.

    Prevention Can Save Lives: Proven ways to prevent blood clots from occurring during or after a healthcare encounter exist, but not all hospitals and healthcare facilities have put these prevention strategies into practice or use them routinely.

    1. Learn the Lingo About Blood Clots

    • Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): Blood clot located in a deep vein usually in the leg or am.

    • Pulmonary Embolism (PE): Blood clot that has traveled from a deep vein to the lung. PE can be deadly.

    • Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): DVT and PE are also known as VTE.

    • Healthcare-Associated VTE (HA-VTE): A DVT or PE that occurs as a result of hospitalization, surgery, or other healthcare treatment or procedure.

    2. Blood Clots Are Costly

    Costs due to healthcare-associated blood clots exceed 5 billion dollars per year

    3. Blood Clots are Deadly and a Significant, Growing Public Health Problem

    Blood clots affect as many as 900,000 Americans each year leading to approximately 100,000 premature deaths.

    50% of blood clots are healthcare-associated.

    Although there are many reasons a person might develop a blood clot, about half of them are directly related to a recent hospitalization or surgery and most of these do not occur until after discharge.

    4. Healthcare-Associated Blood Clots Are Avoidable: Prevention is Key

    • As many as 70% of healthcare-associated blood clots are preventable.

    • However, fewer than 50% of hospital patients receive appropriate preventive treatment.

    5. What You Can Do To Help Prevent Healthcare-Associated Blood Clots

    Before surgery or hospitalization ask your healthcare provider:

    • Am I at risk for a blood clot?

    • Do I need preventive treatment to keep me from having a blood clot?

    Upon discharge ask your healthcare provider:

    • What can I do to continue to prevent blood clots from developing once I’m home?

    • What are the signs and symptoms of a blood clot?

    • What should I do if I think I have a blood clot?

    At home:

    • Follow your doctor’s instructions for preventing blood clots; take medicine as prescribed.

    • Move your arms and legs to help prevent blood clots from forming.

    • Call your doctor if you think you have a blood clot.

    ha-vte_infographic.pdf

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