Delayed Venous Thromboembolism Diagnosis and Mortality Risk

What is the rate of diagnostic delay of venous thromboembolism (>24 and >72 hours) across 2 health care systems according to an electronic clinical quality measure, and is there an association between diagnostic delay and 30-day all-cause mortality?In this diagnostic study including 3525 patients, diagnostic delays exceeded 24 hours in 79.43% of cases at the first institution and 82.38% of cases at the second institution; delays exceeded 72 hours in 69.89% of cases at the first institution and 71.31% of cases at the second institution. Delayed VTE diagnoses were associated with higher 30-day all-cause mortality.These findings suggest that the electronic clinical quality measure was able to quantify delays in diagnosing VTE across care settings and could be used to guide quality improvement efforts.

Corresponding Author: Min-Jeoung Kang, PhD, RN, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 1620 Tremont St, OBC-3, Boston, MA 02120 (mkang6@bwh.harvard.edu).

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