Impact of electronic reminders on venous thromboprophylaxis after admissions and transfers

Clinical decision support has the potential to improve prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The purpose of this prospective study was to analyze the effect of electronic reminders on thromboprophylaxis rates in wards to which patients were admitted and transferred. The latter was of particular interest since patient handoffs are considered to be critical safety issues. The trial involved two study periods in the six departments of a university hospital, three of which were randomly assigned to the intervention group displaying reminders during the second period. At 6 h after admission or transfer, the algorithm checked for prophylaxis orders within 0-30 h of the patient's arrival, increasing the specificity of the displayed reminders. The significant impact of the reminders could be seen by prophylaxis orders placed 6-24 h after admission (increasing from 8.6% (223/2579) to 12% (307/2555); p