Hospital Compliance with Clot-Prevention Best Practices Needs Improvement; Premier Inc. Examines Hospital Use of Treatments to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT); March is DVT Awareness Month.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hospitals can do a better job of protecting patients from dangerous blood clots that develop during hospitalization according to a review of more than 250,000 patient records conducted by the Premier Inc. healthcare alliance in collaboration with researchers from the University of California-Irvine. The research, funded by sanofi-aventis through Premier's Healthcare Informatics unit, was conducted to coincide with National DVT Awareness Month, which takes place during March.

The research supports the findings of the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. These and other hospital quality groups are promoting the adoption of evidence-based prophylaxis regimens for preventing DVT in their individual initiatives. Deep vein thrombosis occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein, usually in the legs. The clots can then dislodge, traveling to the lungs where they cause pulmonary embolism. According to the American Heart Association, up to 2 million Americans are affected annually by DVT, and up to 200,000 die from pulmonary embolism.

Using Premier's Perspective(TM) database, researchers from Premier compared actual inpatient treatments to evidence-based prophylaxis guidelines involving the use of unfractionated (UH) and low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and compression devices put forth by the American College of Chest Physicians for several categories of medical and surgical diagnoses. The study does not investigate the use of post-discharge prophylaxis.

The data review found that non-surgical patients received the recommended treatment as little as 27 percent of the time and only 49 percent of the time at best, depending on the condition for which they were hospitalized. Surgical patients received the recommended treatment as little as 13 percent of the time, although care for patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery complied with the guidelines as often as 85 percent of the time.

For those categories in which compliance was lowest, the findings suggest that patients either did not receive the recommended prophylaxis regimen at all or did not receive the recommended treatment for a sufficient number of days in the hospital to be considered compliant. If a patient received the recommended medication, the majority of cases received the appropriate dose.

The research included data from more than 315,000 inpatients from 227 hospitals, age 40 or greater who had a hospital stay of six days or longer. Medical categories studied were heart attack (AMI), heart failure, cancer, severe lung disease, stroke, and trauma without surgical procedures. The surgical categories were major orthopedic, neurological, urological, gynecological, and general surgery. Compliance within each group with the 6th version of the ACCP guidelines was determined by examining the daily use of UH or LMWH for each day of hospital stay, the dosage each patient received, and the duration of the recommended therapy. Compliance rates were produced for each patient category separately.

Premier will continue to emphasize the importance of DVT prevention. Dr. Alpesh Amin, vice-chair for clinical affairs, Department of Medicine and medical director for anti-coagulation services of the University of California-Irvine will present the research findings when he addresses Premier's Annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in June on the subject of DVT and the ACCP guidelines.

About sanofi-aventis

Sanofi-aventis is the world's third largest pharmaceutical company, ranking number one in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organization, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases, central nervous system, internal medicine, and vaccines. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

About Premier

A healthcare alliance entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare systems, Premier Inc. helps hospitals accelerate performance on both clinical outcomes and supply chain costs. Premier serves nearly 1,500 hospitals and more than 38,500 other healthcare sites. Premier Purchasing Partners provides an array of services supporting health services delivery including group purchasing totaling more than $25 billion annually in supplies and equipment purchasing, as well as supply chain and clinical performance improvement services. Premier Healthcare Informatics offers performance measurement, benchmarking, and reporting products and advisory services supporting quality improvement. Premier Insurance Management Services helps hospitals manage insurance costs and improve risk management and claims capabilities. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Premier has offices in Charlotte, NC, Chicago, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.