Collaboration: the pivotal point for quality patient outcomes

The article describes a study designed to monitor the patency of heparin locks and intravenous (IV) lines of patients presenting to the cardiovascular department for diagnostic testing. Findings revealed that 60 percent of the invasive lines were nonpatent. Data analysis found that adverse patient outcomes may affect a small subset of patients and may not be reflected in overall hospital or unit trends. Recommendations included an evaluation of the current heparin lock/IV policy utilized to assess patency and increased emphasis on interdepartmental collaboration so as to prevent this adverse patient outcome.