Web-based program aids clinicians in anticoagulation treatment

A new web-based program aims to help clinical pharmacists and other healthcare professionals achieve the best possible outcomes for their patients on antithrombotic medications.

The new Anticoagulation Centers of Excellence program (ACE) is the first of its kind, according to the Anticoagulation Centers of Excellence Anticoagulation Forum in Newton, Mass. “We are looking for clinics to excel beyond the daily management of antithrombotic medications, from the time a referral is received to the time the patient leaves the practice,” said David Garcia, MD, president of the Anticoagulation Forum.

“We wanted to promote evidence-based practice, and have this one place to go for information and evaluation resources,” added Elaine H. Whalen, project manager for the ACE Anticoagulation Forum.

The site features an assessment tool that medical directors and others can use to measure where their anticoagulation services stacks up against a set of standards developed by a multidisciplinary group in ACE that includes pharmacists, nurses, physicians and other healthcare providers. “If they pass, they get a 2-year recognition that they can display in their practice. If they don’t pass, they are given a customized list of resource tools to help them improve,” Whalen said.

The website also features a comprehensive, searchable resource center that provides the guidelines and tools to improve toward excellence. “The resources include drug therapy management, transitions and coordination of care, and patient and family education,” Whalen said.

On the site, practitioners are also encouraged to share examples of innovative and successful solutions to challenges in patient care or service management. “We take one member who has come to us with a unique story or work that they are doing, and highlight them for about a month,” Whalen said.