Comparison of anticoagulation clinic patient outcomes with outcomes from traditional care in a family medicine clinic.

BACKGROUND Giving patients oral anticoagulation therapy in an ambulatory clinic setting is associated with substantial risk of adverse outcomes leading to emergency department visits and unplanned inpatient admissions. This article describes an effectiveness study conducted in a well-characterized family practice setting that compares anticoagulation outcomes in patients managed by a traditional care model with outcomes obtained with an anticoagulation clinic model.

METHODS All study patients received continuous anticoagulation care at the Family Medicine of Southwest Washington (FMSW) clinic during the 1-year study period. The method was retrospective and used linked record review, including outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department records. Patients were divided into two groups as naturally observed: those treated in the clinic by traditional care compared with those treated in an anticoagulation clinic model. Data analyses compared the two groups in terms of patient demographics, anticoagulation control, and inpatient admissions and emergency department visits that were related to clotting or bleeding events.

RESULTS There were no differences in demographic variables between the anticoagulation clinic and traditional care groups. There was a statistically significant difference in anticoagulation control as measured by international normalized ratio (INR) values. The anticoagulation clinic group had fewer INR values outside the target range, +/- 0.1, than the traditional care group (40.4% vs 47.3% P = .022). The anticoagulation clinic group also had significantly fewer INR tests drawn more than 6 weeks apart than the traditional care group (3.7% vs 8.1% P = .01). There was no statistically significant difference in emergency department visit rates caused by adverse events. Inpatient admission rates for the anticoagulation clinic and traditional care groups were not statistically different; however, they were clinically different (4.7 vs 19.7 admissions per 100 patient years of therapy P = .15).

CONCLUSIONS More anticoagulation patients treated by the anticoagulation clinic model at FMSW received an INR test at least every 6 weeks than those treated by the traditional care model, and more of their INR results were within target range +/- 0.1 when compared with the traditional care model.