the financial arm of the center because we don't want to have a
patient die of MH."
3. Venous thromboembolism
For facilities performing outpatient orthopedic procedures, take-
home sequential compression devices can help reduce the risk of
venous thromboembolism (VTE), says Lisa Herder, RN, BSN,
nurse manager of Beaver Sports Medicine Surgery Center in
Corvallis, Ore. After recently seeing an uptick in VTE cases after
discharge, Ms. Herder says her center is developing a blood clot
prevention program that includes the use of take-home SCDs, as
well as better pre-op screening and post-op education of patients.
"When patients score over a 5 (using the Caprini scoring sys-
tem), they get compression stockings," says Ms. Herder. "For
these high-risk patients, though, we wanted to add battery-operat-
ed pneumatic devices."
Creating this type of program is especially helpful for total joint
patients who are "a little more bedridden" than typical outpatients,
says Robert Morsut, RN, ADN, OR clinical coordinator for
Peachtree Orthopaedic Surgery Center in Atlanta, Ga. "With the
stepping up of our total joint program, we started a take-home sys-
tem," he says. "Patients put the disposable SCD sleeves on at
home, they simply push the button and it does the compression
for them. Then when they're done with recovery, they receive a
cardboard envelope to mail the pump back."
When shopping around, Ms. Herder recommends looking for
cordless devices — to help avoid tripping hazards — that also fea-
ture user-friendly interfaces. Also consider the company's level of
involvement in the process: Some handle all of the billing of
patients' insurance and maintain the devices, while others will sell
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