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 inpa-tient 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 com-pared 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 de-partment 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 fewe