Promoting patient safety and improving the quality of patient care
Tag: blood clot
Doctors are fighting to ensure their stroke patients are getting access to the medications they need, reports FOX13 News in Memphis, Tennessee:
Continue reading “Two Steps For Reducing Your Risk of Blood Clots”
By Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
In the early months of the COVID-19 epidemic, abnormal clotting was found in COVID-19 patients. As Bin Cao, MD, who is with the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Beijing, described wide-spread clots in COVID-19 patients in a March 19, 2020 webinar cosponsored by the Chinese Cardiovascular Association and the American College of Cardiology – he found “clots in the small vessels of all organs, not only the lungs but also including the heart, the liver, and the kidney.”
Continue reading “A Misdiagnosis of Blood Clots Can Be Costly – Particularly During COVID-19”
Because the COVID pandemic has presented us with unprecedented circumstances (probably only matched in current times by the 1918 Flu Pandemic, which occurred before most of our lives), our understanding of COVID is continually evolving and improving based on new research and data. Learning from new research and applying that knowledge to our lives and how we care for patients is essential
For this week, here are 3 studies that everyone needs to know about during this COVID pandemic:
Continue reading “3 Studies About the COVID Pandemic Everyone Needs to Know”
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In this video by Michael Wong, Founder and Executive Director of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety explains what prompted the Physician-Patient Alliance and its cardiovascular partners – American Heart Association, AC Forum, Heart Rhythm Society, StopAfib.org, Mended Hearts, and Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association – to establish a nursing chat line:
“During the current COVID-19 conditions, patients face the burdens of social distancing and increased difficulty in reaching clinicians busy with emergencies. To meet the pressing needs of patients during this COVID pandemic, the Physician-Patient Alliance, with an unrestricted grant from the BMS-Pfizer Alliance, and our cardiovascular partners recently launched a free virtual patient care website and chat line.”
In celebration of World Thrombosis Day 2019, here are four much-watch videos on the need to assess all maternal patients for the risk of VTE and to provide the recommended prophylaxis treatment, depending on whether the mother is antepartum or postpartum.
Blood Clots Are Preventable in Pregnant Mothers
Blood clots are preventable in pregnant mothers, but to make this happen, all maternal patients need to be assessed for the risk of DVT and, if the patient is found to be at risk, the patient must be provided the recommended prophylactic treatments. In this video, Michael Wong, JD (Founder and Executive Director) discusses PPAHS put together an expert panel to develop the OB VTE Safety Recommendations. He encourages all maternal patients to be assessed and treated for VTE.
Editor’s note: In this editorial from the desk of PPAHS’s Executive Director, to help prevent blood clots PPAHS says that clinicians and their patients need to know who is at risk and be knowledgeable about the alternatives.
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Birth Control Pills and Blood Clots
Two women – one in the United States and one in Ireland – both recently experienced near-death experiences. Despite being separated by the Atlantic Ocean, both share a widespread practice – they both were taking birth control pills. According to a survey by the CDC, 62% of women of reproductive age are currently using contraception.
In the United States, WREG 3 News reports that 18-year-old Hailey Duncan from Memphis, Tennessee “was rushed to Baptist after she suffered a pulmonary embolism likely caused by birth control pills that blocked off most of the blood flow to her lungs. She went into cardiac arrest several times on the way to the hospital.”
Anticoagulants (more commonly referred to as blood thinners) are routinely used to treat, prevent and reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which consists of prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
According to World Thrombosis Day, 1 in 4 people worldwide are dying from conditions caused by thrombosis:
Continue reading “National Patient Safety Goal to Reduce the Patient Harm from Anticoagulants”
How to Prevent Deadly Blood Clots: Three Free Resources from the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety
World Thrombosis Day asks us to be aware of tips to prevent deadly blood clots:
When you think of potentially deadly health issues, do you think of a blood clot? According to a recent U.S. survey, only 7 percent of people say they are concerned about blood clots, known by the medical term thrombosis. However, what they might not know is one in four people worldwide die from conditions caused by thrombosis, making it a leading cause of global death and disability.
In honor of WTD 2017, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety believes that blood clots safety consists of four steps: Continue reading “How to Prevent Deadly Blood Clots: Three Free Resources from the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety”
Patient advocates and leading medical societies involved in awareness building and improving patient safety in Atrial Fibrillation (Afib) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) gathered recently for the 1st Annual Anticoagulation Summit, a two-day conference.
Michael Wong, JD, founder and Executive Director of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS), presented a poster on the OB VTE Safety Recommendations, which were released by PPAHS, in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the National Perinatal Association. The recommendations, compiled by a panel of health experts, give clinicians a step-by-step checklist to help assess all OB patients’ risks for VTE and identify the appropriate prophylaxis regimen to improve health outcomes for maternal patients. Continue reading “PPAHS Participates in 1st Annual Anticoagulation Summit”
March is Blood Clot Awareness Month.
Spearheaded by the National Blood Clot Alliance, #BCAM is a time for patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and advocates to draw attention to deep vein thrombosis and venous thromboembolism.
According to the National Blood Clot Alliance:
“Blood clots do not discriminate. They can and do affect anyone from children to senior citizens, from professional athletes to mothers, women and men – no one is immune. Tragically, roughly 274 lives are lost each day in the U.S. simply because public awareness about life-threatening blood clots is so low.”
Blood Clot Awareness Month is a time for us to highlight stories and resources that you can share with colleagues, patients, and loved ones to bring attention to blood clots. Continue reading “March is Blood Clot Awareness Month”