Transitions of Care for VTE Patients

The Society of Hospital Medicine's Facilitation of Anticoagulation for Safer Transitions (FAST) Program Implementation Guide was developed to provide hospitalists and hospital teams with current guidance regarding how to assess care and transitions of care processes for patients hospitalized with Venous thromboembolism (VTE). The guide is a blueprint that informed the development of the SHM FAST Mentored Implementation Program which was implemented in seven hospitals in the United States. The program was implemented to improve patient safety, care outcomes, and anticoagulation management in hospitalized patients with VTE. The implementation guide provides an overview of intervention components that may be implemented in hospitals to improve transitions of care for the hospitalized patient from hospital to home. The guide also provides templates for core transitions of care processes including patient education and discharge care planning.

The implementation guide may assist your hospital with the following:

1. Assessing current transitions of care processes for VTE patients
2. Identifying which interventions are optimal for implementation
3. Supporting anticoagulation management, patient education, and follow-up to improve care outcomes for VTE patients discharged from the hospital