The Pulmonary Embolism Response Team and Hospital Relationship

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the developed world. PE lagged behind other major causes of cardiovascular death in terms of novel management and interventional techniques through the turn of the century, but over the past 10–15 years, there have been dramatic developments in PE care, including an improved understanding of pathophysiology and management techniques which have begun to decrease PE-related mortality. Due to the widening array of choices and absence of evidence-based guidelines to direct care, multidisciplinary Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams (PERTs) have arisen to rapidly respond and guide the care of individual patients. The PERT multidisciplinary approach to care has gained popularity, driven in part by The PERT Consortium™ with a membership of more than 150 hospitals. Given the important role that PERTs have grown to play in hospitals, this chapter centers on the PERT – hospital relationship. Eight key areas are discussed including patient access to PERT care and PERT physician call-coverage, current state of credentialing for PERT medical staff with emphasis on interventionalists, workflow, resource utilization, quality, internal marketing, financial performance, and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).