CLOTS – technical solution: 4-Model Decision Support Tool for ALL surgical and interventional procedures

Opportunity 

Perioperative patients face risks associated with thromboembolism (TE, blood clots in the veins), anticoagulant management and pre-operative optimisation. Despite clinical evidence and established guidelines for best practice care, there is still inconsistent implementation in practice. Clinicians need timely access to appropriate decision-making tools to ensure better patient outcomes.  

The project addressed prevention of TE, a high priority safety initiative for the Australian medical community, with a 4-Model Decision Support tool (CLOTS) to drive evidence-based, real time decision-making for surgical procedures. 

Project Objectives  

This project aimed to enhance and validate a clinical decision support solution that prioritised:  

• Surgical TE Prevention (STEP);  
• periprocedural management of antithrombotic drugs (MAD);  
• haematinic optimisation (HO), to avoid complications associated with anaemia and blood products; and  
• fast-track warfarin reversal (FTWR), a novel, highly effective, and safe strategy for warfarin management for elective procedures. 

The project sought to provide clinicians with recommendations derived from real-world usage and outcome data, and establish pathways toward commercialisation and wider adoption of this model and tool.