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A multicenter study showed that roughly 1 in 5 physicians did not know when a hospitalized patient had a central venous catheter (CVC) in place.
Hospitalists were the least likely to know of a CVC’s presence, followed by general medicine teaching attendings, interns, and residents.
These findings raise questions about patient safety, as CVCs pose a risk of bloodstream infection and thrombosis, both of which can be prevented by removing catheters that are no longer necessary.
“We know that central venous catheters are invaluable for the safe and comprehensive care of some hospitalized patients, but just as they are helpful, they can be harmful,” said study author Vineet Chopra, MD, of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
“The key to preventing complications is to remove devices when they are no longer necessary, but that requires knowing they are there in the first place. Our findings suggest that patient safety may be jeopardized if medical providers don’t improve their practices regarding device awareness.”
Dr Chopra and his colleagues reported their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study included 990 patients and 1881 clinical assessments at 3 academic medical centers in the US. Responses from interns (n=454), residents and physician extenders (n=513), general medicine teaching attendings (n=245), subspecialty attendings (n=176), intensivists (n=95), and hospitalists (n=398) were included.
The overall prevalence of CVCs was 21.1%, 60.3% of which were peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). The remaining CVCs were triple-lumen catheters inserted in the neck (19.6%), chest (11.5%), or groin (8.6%).
In all, 21.2% of clinicians interviewed did not know when a patient had a CVC in place. And 5.6% of clinicians said a patient had a CVC when there was no device in place.
Hospitalists were most likely to be unaware of a CVC (30.5%), followed by general medicine teaching attendings (25.8%), interns (19.1%), and residents (13.8%).
When assessed by service, critical care physicians were the least likely to be unaware of a CVC (12.6%), compared to general medicine teaching attendings/hospitalists (26.2%) and clinicians in other subspecialties (22.5%). Awareness was best among specialties that used CVCs often, such as cardiology and oncology.
Lack of awareness was greatest for PICCs; 25.1% of clinicians were unaware of a PICC’s presence, and 15.6% were unaware of a triple lumen catheter’s presence.
“These findings have important patient safety and policy implications for health systems nationwide,” Dr Chopra said, “because they suggest that removal of clinically unnecessary catheters may be limited by lack of awareness by providers, especially in non-intensive care settings.” 
A multicenter study showed that roughly 1 in 5 physicians did not know when a hospitalized patient had a central venous catheter (CVC) in place.
Hospitalists were the least likely to know of a CVC’s presence, followed by general medicine teaching attendings, interns, and residents.
These findings raise questions about patient safety, as CVCs pose a risk of bloodstream infection and thrombosis, both of which can be prevented by removing catheters that are no longer necessary.
“We know that central venous catheters are invaluable for the safe and comprehensive care of some hospitalized patients, but just as they are helpful, they can be harmful,” said study author Vineet Chopra, MD, of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
“The key to preventing complications is to remove devices when they are no longer necessary, but that requires knowing they are there in the first place. Our findings suggest that patient safety may be jeopardized if medical providers don’t improve their practices regarding device awareness.”
Dr Chopra and his colleagues reported their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study included 990 patients and 1881 clinical assessments at 3 academic medical centers in the US. Responses from interns (n=454), residents and physician extenders (n=513), general medicine teaching attendings (n=245), subspecialty attendings (n=176), intensivists (n=95), and hospitalists (n=398) were included.
The overall prevalence of CVCs was 21.1%, 60.3% of which were peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). The remaining CVCs were triple-lumen catheters inserted in the neck (19.6%), chest (11.5%), or groin (8.6%).
In all, 21.2% of clinicians interviewed did not know when a patient had a CVC in place. And 5.6% of clinicians said a patient had a CVC when there was no device in place.
Hospitalists were most likely to be unaware of a CVC (30.5%), followed by general medicine teaching attendings (25.8%), interns (19.1%), and residents (13.8%).
When assessed by service, critical care physicians were the least likely to be unaware of a CVC (12.6%), compared to general medicine teaching attendings/hospitalists (26.2%) and clinicians in other subspecialties (22.5%). Awareness was best among specialties that used CVCs often, such as cardiology and oncology.
Lack of awareness was greatest for PICCs; 25.1% of clinicians were unaware of a PICC’s presence, and 15.6% were unaware of a triple lumen catheter’s presence.
“These findings have important patient safety and policy implications for health systems nationwide,” Dr Chopra said, “because they suggest that removal of clinically unnecessary catheters may be limited by lack of awareness by providers, especially in non-intensive care settings.”
A multicenter study showed that roughly 1 in 5 physicians did not know when a hospitalized patient had a central venous catheter (CVC) in place.
Hospitalists were the least likely to know of a CVC’s presence, followed by general medicine teaching attendings, interns, and residents.
These findings raise questions about patient safety, as CVCs pose a risk of bloodstream infection and thrombosis, both of which can be prevented by removing catheters that are no longer necessary.
“We know that central venous catheters are invaluable for the safe and comprehensive care of some hospitalized patients, but just as they are helpful, they can be harmful,” said study author Vineet Chopra, MD, of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
“The key to preventing complications is to remove devices when they are no longer necessary, but that requires knowing they are there in the first place. Our findings suggest that patient safety may be jeopardized if medical providers don’t improve their practices regarding device awareness.”
Dr Chopra and his colleagues reported their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study included 990 patients and 1881 clinical assessments at 3 academic medical centers in the US. Responses from interns (n=454), residents and physician extenders (n=513), general medicine teaching attendings (n=245), subspecialty attendings (n=176), intensivists (n=95), and hospitalists (n=398) were included.
The overall prevalence of CVCs was 21.1%, 60.3% of which were peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). The remaining CVCs were triple-lumen catheters inserted in the neck (19.6%), chest (11.5%), or groin (8.6%).
In all, 21.2% of clinicians interviewed did not know when a patient had a CVC in place. And 5.6% of clinicians said a patient had a CVC when there was no device in place.
Hospitalists were most likely to be unaware of a CVC (30.5%), followed by general medicine teaching attendings (25.8%), interns (19.1%), and residents (13.8%).
When assessed by service, critical care physicians were the least likely to be unaware of a CVC (12.6%), compared to general medicine teaching attendings/hospitalists (26.2%) and clinicians in other subspecialties (22.5%). Awareness was best among specialties that used CVCs often, such as cardiology and oncology.
Lack of awareness was greatest for PICCs; 25.1% of clinicians were unaware of a PICC’s presence, and 15.6% were unaware of a triple lumen catheter’s presence.
“These findings have important patient safety and policy implications for health systems nationwide,” Dr Chopra said, “because they suggest that removal of clinically unnecessary catheters may be limited by lack of awareness by providers, especially in non-intensive care settings.”