Quality assurance of venous thromboprophylaxis in a university hospital

Actual situation CPOE had been implemented hospital-wide permitting detailed analysis of prophylaxis orders in 2010 in 27 940 cases (21 324 patients) treated in 27 clinics. The rate of prophylaxis in ten surgical clinics was higher (mean of 79.3%; range 52.8–95.8%) and more often included both pharmacological and mechanical prophylaxes (34.7%) as compared to 12 medical clinics with an average prophylaxis rate of 58.1% (range 41.2–80.5%), including 8.7% combined prophylaxes (p <0.0001). In particular, a significantly higher use of compression stockings was observed in surgical (41.8%) compared to medical (10.4%) clinics (p <0.0001). Orders for surgical patients were placed more frequently before admission (51.5%) as compared to patients treated in internal medicine (5.2%, p <0.0001), reflecting different frequencies of scheduled admissions.