# Implanted but not forgotten: identifying and testing pragmatic strategies to improve inferior vena cava filter retrieval

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2022 · $187,332

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
As a vascular and interventional radiologist and a health services researcher, my long-term goal is to achieve
transformative improvements in vascular procedural care through national quality of care assessments and
implementing pragmatic inventions to improve outcomes. This research and training proposal will allow me to
gain critical skills needed to establish independence and launch a portfolio of scientific contributions focused
on systems-level quality improvement in venous thromboembolism (VTE) related care.
The goal of this research proposal is to increase timely retrieval of inferior vena cava filters (IVCF) and
improve patient outcomes in the United States. Inferior vena cava filters are very commonly placed in patients
with blood clots in the leg (deep venous thrombosis; DVT) or lungs (pulmonary embolism; PE), to prevent
propagation to the heart, which can be fatal. Unfortunately, national retrieval rates remain low and prolonged
IVCF implantation has resulted in considerable, avoidable morbidity. Multi-society guidelines recently
emphasized the need to improve timely IVCF retrieval rates through institution of structured follow up programs
and to better understand which program components are effective in real world settings. What is needed next
is identification and testing of pragmatic strategies to improve timely IVCF retrieval in real-world settings. We
propose to do this via three complimentary aims: 1) quantification of facility-level variation in IVCF retrieval
across the United States; 2) qualitative characterization of high-performing institutions to identify best practices
and characterize facilitators and barriers to their implementation; 3) design, pilot testing and iterative
adaptation of a pragmatic intervention package to improve IVCF retrieval, informed by the existing literature
and adapted with findings from aim 2. The pragmatic intervention will then be tested in multi-center hybrid
implementation-effectiveness trials to follow, with the goal of improving timely IVCF retrieval and reducing
complications across hospitals in the United States.
My training aims closely parallel the proposed research methodology through focused education in: a)
Bayesian hospital profiling, b) qualitative interviewing and analysis, and c) intervention design using an
implementation science framework. This training will be accomplished through an intentional mix of structured
coursework, formal workshop experience and one-on-one education with topical research experts.
My mentorship team and research environment at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) are ideally
suited to this proposal. My primary mentor, P. Michael Ho MD PhD, is a national leader in cardiovascular
quality assessment and pragmatic intervention design. I will additionally leverage the extensive data and
methodologic core resources of Adult and Child Consortium for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science
(ACCORDS) and Data2Value (D2V) initiatives ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10428918
- **Project number:** 1K23HL163492-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Premal S Trivedi
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $187,332
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-01 → 2027-06-01

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10428918

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10428918, Implanted but not forgotten: identifying and testing pragmatic strategies to improve inferior vena cava filter retrieval (1K23HL163492-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10428918. Licensed CC0.

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