141 Heparin Management - The Ultimate Goldilocks Dilemma: A Quality Improvement Project

Introduction: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is widely used for the prevention and treatment of thrombosis. As a high-alert medication, improper use can increase risk of patient harm. Multiple factors impact the efficacy and safety of UFH, including varying doses based on indication, frequent therapeutic monitoring of labs such as activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and dose titration based on lab values. A medication use evaluation found that aPTTs were therapeutic on average 24% of the time, subtherapeutic >50% of the time, and following as needed bolus doses patients were becoming were supratherapeutic.