Comparison of Prescribing Practices with Direct Acting Oral Anticoagulant Protocols.

BACKGROUND: The goal of anticoagulation management programs is to prevent thrombosis while minimizing the risks of hemorrhage. Direct acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) selectively inhibit coagulation proteins to inhibit thrombosis. Previous studies suggest patient monitoring and education provided through anticoagulation services enhance adherence and decrease adverse outcomes in patients receiving DOAC therapy. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to describe DOAC prescribing adherence to anticoagulation service protocols and to observe whether enrollment in an anticoagulation service resulted in greater prescribing adherence to DOAC protocols. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study evaluated all initial prescriptions of apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban at Marshfield Clinic from 19 October 2010 to 21 August 2014. Three algorithms analyzed patient and prescription data extracted from the organization's electronic health record and classified prescriptions as per protocol or not per protocol. The algorithms classified not per protocol prescriptions as off-label indication, renal impairment [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <30 ml/min], hepatic impairment (rivaroxaban and apixaban), advanced age >74 years (dabigatran), dose too low, or dose too high. The analysis assessed whether enrollment in the Marshfield Clinic Anticoagulation Service DOAC monitoring process was associated with increased adherence to protocols. RESULTS: In aggregate, 72% of apixaban prescriptions, 52% of dabigatran prescriptions, and 70% of rivaroxaban prescriptions were per protocol. Off-label indications and dosage too low were the most common not per protocol reasons for apixaban and rivaroxaban prescriptions. Age ≥75 years and off-label indication were the most common not per protocol reasons for dabigatran prescriptions. Enrollment in the anticoagulation service process was not associated with increased adherence to protocols. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of DOAC prescriptions did not adhere to protocol expectations. While enrollment in DOAC management through the Marshfield Clinic Anticoagulation Service was not associated with increased adherence to protocols, opportunities exist to optimize DOAC prescribing. Defining ideal DOAC management requires additional research.

Best practices: an electronic drug alert program to improve safety in an accountable care environment.

BACKGROUND: The accountable care organization (ACO), one of the most promising and talked about new models of care, focuses on improving communication and care transitions by tying potential shared savings to specific clinical and financial benchmarks. An important factor in meeting these benchmarks is an ACO's ability to manage medications in an environment where medical and pharmacy care has been integrated. The program described in this article highlights the critical components of Marshfield Clinic's Drug Safety Alert Program (DSAP), which focuses on prioritizing and communicating safety issues related to medications with the goal of reducing potential adverse drug events. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Once the medication safety concern is identified, it is reviewed to evaluate whether an alert warrants sending prescribers a communication that identifies individual patients or a general communication to all physicians describing the safety concern. Instead of basing its decisions regarding clinician notification about drug alerts on subjective criteria, the Marshfield Clinic's DSAP uses an internally developed scoring system. The scoring system includes criteria developed from previous drug alerts, such as level of evidence, size of population affected, severity of adverse event identified or targeted, litigation risk, available alternatives, and potential for duration of medication use. Each of the 6 criteria is assigned a weight and is scored based upon the content and severity of the alert received.  OBSERVATIONS: In its first 12 months, the program targeted 6 medication safety concerns involving the following medications: topiramate, glyburide, simvastatin, citalopram, pioglitazone, and lovastatin. Baseline and follow-up prescribing data were gathered on the targeted medications. Follow-up review of prescribing data demonstrated that the DSAP provided quality up-to-date safety information that led to changes in drug therapy and to decreases in potential adverse drug events. In aggregate, nearly 10,000 total potential adverse drug events were identified with baseline data from the DSAP initiatives, and nearly 8,000 were resolved by changes in prescribing.  IMPLICATIONS: Implications and additional thoughts from The Working Group on Optimizing Medication Therapy in Value-Based Healthcare were provided for the following categories: leveraging electronic health records, importance of data collection and reassessment, preventing alert fatigue utilizing various techniques, relevance to ACO quality measurement, and limitations of a retrospective system. RECOMMENDATIONS: While health information technologies have been recognized as a cornerstone for an ACO's success, additional research is needed on comparing these types of technological innovations. Future research should focus on reviewing comparable scoring criteria and alert systems utilized in a variety of ACOs. In addition, an examination of different data mining procedures used within different electronic health record platforms would prove useful to ACOs looking to improve the care of not only the subpopulations with specific metrics associated with them, but their patient population as a whole. The authors also highlight the need for additional research on health information exchanges, including the cost and resource requirements needed to successfully participate in these types of networks.

Assessment of dabigatran utilization and prescribing patterns for atrial fibrillation in a physician group practice setting.

For years, warfarin and aspirin have been standard therapies for prophylaxis of stroke in atrial fibrillation. In late 2010, dabigatran, an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, became available for use in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. We sought to evaluate utilization and prescribing patterns of dabigatran in a physician group practice setting. We retrospectively collected prescription data from October 2010 to December 2011 including indication of use, dose, renal function, drug interactions, history of warfarin therapy, and risk assessment scores (CHADS2 and HAS-BLED). Off-label use (history of valve disease or no diagnosis of atrial fibrillation) occurred in 20% (n = 34) of 174 patients. Renal function assessed by Cockcroft-Gault equation identified 1 case of contraindicated use and the need for initial renal dose adjustment in approximately 1/2 of the patients with reduced renal function (15-30 ml/min). Review of anticoagulant use revealed 68% of patients (n = 119) previously received warfarin and ultimately 20% of all patients on dabigatran resumed warfarin therapy. A significant increase in the use of permeability glycoprotein inhibitors and proton pump inhibitors after initiating dabigatran was observed. Nearly 10% of patients had a CHADS2 score of 0. For patients receiving novel oral anticoagulants, prospective inclusion in anticoagulation services and guidance from specific "place in therapy" statements have potential to play a large role in maximizing safety while aiding in continued research.