Innovation & Job News

Healthcare providers team up on blood clot prevention

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Royal Oak, Wyandotte, Mt. Clemens, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grosse Pointe, Pontiac

A group of prominent healthcare organizations are partnering to cut the occurrence of blood clots by as much as 50 percent over the next two years in a coordinated effort to improve patient care and reduce medical costs.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Care Network, and the University of Michigan Medical Center are leading the effort with 16 hospitals from across the state, including Beaumont and Oakwood healthcare systems. The idea is that this collaboration, part of Value Partnerships, will expand its focus.

"The expectation is the collaboration will take on other things as the years go by," says Tom Leyden, manager of clinical program development for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

For now, the new initiative will focus on getting the state's major hospitals to reduce the risk of blood clots, a common problem that causes further sickness or even death. The new consortium will work in unison to study, benchmark, and implement best practices to eliminate preventable blood clots.

Just about all patients who are hospitalized are at risk of suffering adverse effects from clotting, some of which are often as serious as death. A double-digit reduction would be a seen as a big step forward.

"It's not perfect," says Scott Flanders, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center and the project director for this initiative. "We're never going to be able to get rid of these things."

Sources: Scott Flanders, professor of medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center; Tom Leyden, manager of clinical program development for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

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Healthcare providers team up on blood clot prevention

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