Comparing effectiveness of two anticoagulation management models in a Malaysian tertiary hospital

A qualitative exploration of the healthcare challenges and pharmaceutical care needs of people with Parkinson's and their caregivers

Background People with Parkinson’s are at higher risk of healthcare and pharmaceutical care issues. Objective To determine the healthcare challenges, pharmaceutical care needs, and perceived need of a pharmacist-run clinic by people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. Setting Malaysian Parkinson’s Disease Association. Method A focus group discussion adopting a descriptive qualitative approach was conducted involving people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. A semi-structured interview guide was used to determine the challenges they faced with their medications and healthcare system, their pharmaceutical care needs, and their views on a pharmacist-run clinic. Data was thematically analysed. Main outcome measure: Healthcare challenges faced by people with Parkinson’s and caregivers along with their pharmaceutical care needs and perceived need of a pharmacist-run clinic. Results Nine people with Parkinson’s and four caregivers participated. Six themes were developed: (1) “It’s very personalised”: the need for self-experimentation, (2) “Managing it is quite difficult”: challenges with medication, (3) “The doctor has no time for you”: challenges with healthcare providers, (4) “Nobody can do it except me”: challenges faced by caregivers, (5) “It becomes a burden”: impact on quality of life, and (6) “Lack of consistency could be counterproductive”: views on pharmacist-run clinic. Conclusion The provision of pharmaceutical care services by pharmacists could help overcome issues people with Parkinson’s face, however there is a need for them to first see pharmacists in their expanded roles and change their limited perception of pharmacists. This can be achieved through integration of pharmacists within multidisciplinary teams in specialist clinics which they frequent.

American Society of Hematology 2018 guidelines for management of venous thromboembolism: optimal management of anticoagulation therapy

BACKGROUND

Clinicians confront numerous practical issues in optimizing the use of anticoagulants to treat venous thromboembolism (VTE).

OBJECTIVE

These evidence-based guidelines of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) are intended to support patients, clinicians and other health care professionals in their decisions about the use of anticoagulants in the management of VTE. These guidelines assume the choice of anticoagulant has already been made.

METHODS

ASH formed a multidisciplinary guideline panel balanced to minimize potential bias from conflicts of interest. The McMaster University GRADE Centre supported the guideline development process, including updating or performing systematic evidence reviews. The panel prioritized clinical questions and outcomes according to their importance for clinicians and patients. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess evidence and make recommendations, which were subject to public comment.

RESULTS

The panel agreed on 25 recommendations and 2 good practice statements to optimize management of patients receiving anticoagulants.

CONCLUSIONS

Strong recommendations included using patient self-management of international normalized ratio (INR) with home point-of-care INR monitoring for vitamin K antagonist therapy and against using periprocedural low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) bridging therapy. Conditional recommendations included basing treatment dosing of LMWH on actual body weight, not using anti-factor Xa monitoring to guide LMWH dosing, using specialized anticoagulation management services, and resuming anticoagulation after episodes of life-threatening bleeding.

Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation: Focus on Asian Patients

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia conferring a fivefold increased risk of stroke. Stroke prevention is the cornerstone of management of patients with AF. Asians have a generally higher incidence of AF-related risks of stroke and bleeding (particularly intracranial bleeding), compared with non-Asians. Despite the well-documented efficacy and relative safety of oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention among Asians, the suboptimal use of oral anticoagulation remains common. The current narrative review aims to provide a summary of the available evidence on stroke prevention among patients with AF focused on the Asia region, regarding stroke and bleeding risk evaluation, the performance of oral anticoagulation, and current use of thromboprophylaxis.

Effect of Standardized Warfarin Treatment Protocol on Anticoagulant Effect: Comparison of a Warfarin Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic with Usual Medical Care

Objective: To evaluate the impact of pharmacist-led warfarin management and standardized treatment protocol.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in a cardiology referral hospital located in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 2009 to 2014. The inclusion criteria were: adult patients who were diagnosed and treated for atrial fibrillation (AF) with warfarin, attended the warfarin medication therapy adherence clinic (WMTAC) for at least 12 weeks, and with at least four international normalized ratio (INR) readings. The electronic medical records were reviewed for demographics, type of AF, warfarin dose, INRs, adverse events, co-morbidities, and drug–drug interactions. The outcome measures included the mean time to therapeutic INR, the mean percentage of time in therapeutic range (TTR), bleeding events, and common drug interactions.

Results: Out of 473 patients, 151 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that there were significant associations between the usual medical care (UMC) group and pharmacist-led WMTAC in terms of TTR (p = 0.01) and INR (p = 0.02) levels. A positive impact of pharmacists’ involvement in the WMTAC clinic was where the “pharmacist’s recommendation accepted” (p = 0.01) and “expanded therapeutic INR range” (p = 0.04) were statistically significantly higher in the WMTAC group.

Conclusion: There was a significant positive association between the pharmacist-led WMTAC and anticoagulation effect (therapeutic TTR, INR). The identified findings revealed that expanded role of pharmacist in pharmacist-managed warfarin therapy is beneficial to optimize the warfarin therapy. This study also highlighted the critical roles that pharmacists can actively play to ensure optimal anticoagulation pharmaceutical care.

Assessment of oral anticoagulation control at two pharmacist-managed clinics in Brazil

Background Warfarin remains widely used by patients with cardiovascular diseases. When using warfarin, the quality of oral anticoagulation control is a critical determinant to minimize the risk of bleeding and thromboembolic events. Pharmacist engagement in patient care is relevant towards improving the quality of warfarin therapy. Objective To assess the quality of oral anticoagulation control measured by time in therapeutic range (TTR) at two pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinics (AC). Method This study included adults with indication of continuous warfarin use. Patients were recruited at two AC of public hospitals in Brazil (2014-2015). Anticoagulation control was assessed by TTR using the Rosendaal method. Laboratory INR values were collected for the maximum period of follow-up (2009-2015). Results A total of 554 patients were studied. The median age was 63.7 [Quartile 1 (Q1) 54.3; Quartile 3 (Q3) 73.6] years, 57.4% female. The median TTR was 64.3% [Q1 54.0%; Q3 74.0%], and 344 (61.6%) patients had TTR ≥ 60%. Conclusion Pharmacist-managed AC have achieved an adequate TTR in Brazilian patients with low socioeconomic status. Interventions include face-to-face appointments for individual patient education, warfarin-dosing adjustments and monitoring of drug interactions. Pharmacists are important to improve adherence and the quality of warfarin therapy in low- and middle income countries.

Quality of Pharmacist-Managed Anticoagulation Therapy in Long-Term Ambulatory Settings: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

To perform a systematic review to evaluate the quality of warfarin anticoagulation control in outpatient pharmacist-managed anticoagulation services (PMAS) compared with routine medical care (RMC).

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, IPA, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL, from inception to May 2017. Search terms employed: ("pharmacist-managed" OR "pharmacist-provided" OR "pharmacist-led" OR "pharmacist-directed") AND ("anticoagulation services" OR "anticoagulation clinic" OR "anticoagulation management" OR "anticoagulant care") AND ("quality of care" OR "outcomes" OR "bleeding" OR "thromboembolism" OR "mortality" OR "hospitalization" OR "length of stay" OR "emergency department visit" OR "cost" OR "patient satisfaction").

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION

Criteria used to identify selected articles: English language; original studies (comments, letters, reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, editorials were excluded); warfarin use; outpatient setting; comparison group present; time in therapeutic range (TTR) included as a measure of quality of anticoagulant control; study design was not a case report.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Of 177 articles identified, 25 met inclusion criteria. Quality of anticoagulation control was better in the PMAS group compared with RMC in majority of the studies (N = 23 of 25, 92.0%). Clinical outcomes were also favorable in the PMAS group as evidenced by lower or equal risk of major bleeding (N = 10 of 12, 83.3%) or thromboembolic events (N = 9 of 10, 90.0%), and lower rates of hospitalization or emergency department visits (N = 9 of 9, 100%). When reported, PMAS have also resulted in cost-savings in all (N=6 of 6, 100%) of studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with routine care, pharmacist-managed outpatient-based anticoagulation services attained better quality of anticoagulation control, lower bleeding and thromboembolic events, and resulted in lower health care utilization.

Cost-Effectiveness of Warfarin Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic versus Usual Medical Clinic at Kuala Lumpur Hospital

BACKGROUND

Systematic anticoagulation management clinic is recommended to manage patients on chronic warfarin therapy. In Malaysia, the service was introduced as warfarin medication therapy adherence clinic (WMTAC), which is managed by pharmacists with a physician advisory.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the cost-effectiveness of WMTAC in comparison with usual medical clinic (UMC), which is managed by medical officers in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital in Malaysia.

METHODS

Data from a 6-month retrospective cohort study comparing the two clinics and the mean percentages of time in the therapeutic range for the patients were used to estimate the cost-effectiveness. The mean clinic costs were estimated using the time-motion study. A Markov model with a 6-monthly cycle was used to simulate lifetime cost-effectiveness from the perspective of the health care service provider. The base-case analysis assumed a cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation, 57 years of age with comorbid illnesses. The transition probabilities of these clinic outcomes were obtained from a literature search. Future costs and effectiveness were discounted by 3% to convert to present values. All costs were in Malaysian ringgit standardized for the year 2007.

RESULTS

The mean 6-month treatment cost was lower for the WMTAC, which was significantly lower (P < 0.001). The UMC was found to be dominated by the WMTAC for both intermediate and lifetime analyses. The sensitivity analysis showed that clinic consultation costs had a major impact on the cost-effectiveness analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

WMTAC is a more cost-effective option than UMC in Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

The impact of pharmacy monitoring and intervention in patients receiving intravenous heparin

Background Intravenous unfractionated heparin (IV UFH) has a narrow therapeutic index and poses a high risk of bleeding. Objective To determine the impact of pharmacy monitoring and intervention on adherence to and appropriate implementation of IV UFH protocol. Setting A 438 bed hospital specializing in cardiac services. Methods This is a retrospective chart review study. Pre-pharmacy intervention data were collected from November 2013 to January 2014 and compared to post-pharmacy intervention data obtained between August 2014 and October 2014. Patients were included if they received IV UFH for at least 24 hours. The first three daytime laboratory draws were collected for each patient and analyzed using generalized estimating equations to quantify the association between pharmacy monitoring and adherence to the institution's protocol. Main outcome measures Designation of appropriate protocol, accurate selection of initial infusion rate, timing of anti-Xa levels within 60 min of anticipated due time, change of infusion rate within 120 min of laboratory result, and appropriate adjustment of infusion rates. Results A total of 195 data points were included. The initial selection of infusion rate and subsequent adjustments were more appropriate in the post-intervention period with an odds ratio of 8.36 (95% CI 2.41-29.01, p value = 0.0008), and 4.66 (95% CI 1.41-15.43, p value = 0.0118), respectively. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that pharmacy monitoring of IV UFH therapy has improved adherence to an institution's protocol and is associated with more accurate selection of initial infusion rates and adjustment of infusions based upon laboratory results.

Pharmacist-managed clinics for patient education and counseling in Japan: current status and future perspectives

To improve the adherence to and knowledge about pharmacotherapy in outpatients and to maximize the efficacy and minimize the adverse drug events, the first pharmacist-managed clinic (PMC) in Japan was established for anticoagulation therapy at Nagoya University Hospital in 2000. Since then, various PMCs such as for asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer's disease, hypercholesterolemia, chronic hepatitis C, cancer chemotherapy, palliative care, chronic kidney disease, and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis have been established and expanded to many hospitals in Japan. Accumulating evidences suggest that PMCs have some beneficial effects on patients' adherence to and knowledge about their pharmacotherapy as well as the clinical outcome, besides being cost-effective. Notably, PMCs for cancer chemotherapy have been approved as a new medical service in hospitals in 2014, which is covered by the universal health coverage in Japan. In this review article, the current status of PMCs for patient education and counseling in Japan and their impact on pharmaceutical care and management are critically reviewed. Furthermore, future perspectives on PMCs are discussed.