Improving peripheral artery disease screening and treatment: a screening, diagnosis, and treatment tool for use across multiple care settings.

Abstract

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic disease that contributes to significant morbidity and mortality, including loss of limb, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and death. Treatment options are often underutilized. A major limiting factor in PAD care is the ability to efficiently identify and screen at-risk patients. A PAD patient screening and clinician decision support tool was created to improve access to high-quality, evidence-based care to drive improved clinical outcomes. The tool identifies known PAD risk factors and presenting symptoms, in combination with objective data obtained via the ankle-brachial index (ABI). The tool utilizes this data to drive PAD diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment, and it is adaptable across multiple care settings, by varied health professions. The implementation of a PAD screening and treatment toolkit enhances anticoagulation and PAD stewardship, and it has been integrated into use across various care settings.