Reduction in thrombolytic order‐to‐needle time with addition of a pharmacist to a pulmonary embolism response team

Introduction Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death in the United States. Institutions have implemented pulmonary embolism response teams (PERT) to hasten clinical decision making and therapeutic interventions. The extent to which critical care pharmacists are included in PERTs is not known. Although improved outcomes with pharmacist involvement in other emergency response teams (e.g., stroke teams) is well described, literature surrounding the impact of pharmacist inclusion in PERTs is limited. The objective was to evaluate if direct pharmacist inclusion in a PERT resulted in reduced time to systemic thrombolysis from time of medication order release in appropriate PE candidates. Methods This was a retrospective, observational study of patients with submassive or massive PE who received systemic thrombolysis at a large academic medical center. Patients were divided into two groups based on if they received systemic thrombolysis before or after the intervention. This intervention was the addition of a pharmacist to the PERT with emphasis on early communication between the PERT pharmacist and other stakeholders at time of PERT activation, and a revised thrombolytic preparation workflow emphasizing bedside preparation by the pharmacist. The primary outcome was time to administration of thrombolytic from time of medication order release. Results Thirty‐four patients were included. Median time to thrombolytic administration was reduced in the post‐intervention group compared to the pre‐intervention group (23 min [14.8–42] vs. 54 min [42.8–69], p = 0.007). Bleeding events were not different between groups. Time to resumption of systemic anticoagulation after systemic thrombolysis was greater in the post‐intervention group. Conclusion Inclusion of a pharmacist in the PERT at this institution significantly reduced time to administration of systemic thrombolysis from time of medication order release in appropriate PE candidates. Larger studies should be conducted to expand upon and confirm these findings.