Working Group Agrees on HIT Improvements

Recommendations of the heparin-inducedthrombocytopenia (HIT)Working Group found that systemwideimprovements in the managementof HIT are necessary to improvepatient care. The group's main goalswere to identify the most prominentgaps in HIT awareness to help enhancediagnosis and treatment to facilitatechanges in HIT management that mayresult in favorable patient outcomes. Asignificant finding was that HIT is notrecognized in many institutions.

"Physicians and other health careproviders must regard HIT as a limb-and-life-threatening condition andapproach care of the HIT patient withappropriate urgency,"said HIT WorkingGroup moderator Larry Rice, MD."We need a focused effort to increasephysician awareness and facilitate thewidespread adoption of aggressive HITtreatment strategies."

The Group's recommendationsinclude:

• Implementing educational programsaimed to increase HITawareness among all sectors ofhealth care
• Incorporating information technologyto automate HIT screeningwithin health care institutions
• Educating hospital administratorsand pharmacy managers aboutthe importance of assessing theimpact of early recognition andtreatment
• Developing tools to identifypatients who should not be givenheparin due to a history of HIT

The HIT Working Group is a consortiumof 20 experts in anticoagulationmedicine who recently held aseries of meetings to discuss HIT management.GlaxoSmithKline sponsoredthe initiative.