Risk of clots, stroke from incorrect blood thinner dosing reduced using online dashboard

Direct oral anticoagulants are the most popular blood thinners, yet doctors commonly prescribe the wrong dose

12:17 PM

Author | Noah Fromson

prescription pad blue yellow sketch
Jacob Dwyer, Justine Ross, Michigan Medicine

Doctors and pharmacists treating people with blood thinners can reduce the rate of inappropriate dosing — as well as blood clots and strokes that can result from it — using an electronic patient management system, a study suggests.

The online dashboard, developed by the United States Veterans Health Administration in 2016, was designed to highlight and optimize the treatment of patients with direct oral anticoagulants, or DOACs, the most commonly prescribed blood thinners. 

Researchers led by Michigan Medicine used the tool to assess over 120,000 cases in which patients with atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism, blood clots in the veins, were treated with DOACs at 123 VA hospitals from mid-2015 through 2019. 

SEE ALSO: Popular blood thinner associated with higher risk of bleeding complications

They found that between 6.9 and 8.6% of patients received incorrect prescriptions for blood thinners. 

Adoption of the electronic DOAC patient management tool led to a decline in off-label dosing of around 8%.

The rate of blood clots and stroke also declined at every hospital that implemented the monitoring tool.

Results are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association

“While DOACs are lifesaving medications for patients with common thrombotic conditions, they can also cause serious harm when prescribed inappropriately,” said Geoffrey Barnes, M.D., M.Sc., first author and associate professor of cardiology-internal medicine at U-M Medical School.

“Not only does our study show how commonly off-label dosing of DOACs occurs, but it highlights that utilizing this DOAC population health management tool can reduce that rate of inappropriate dosing as well as downstream complications, such as stroke and clotting.”

Direct oral anticoagulants can be incorrectly prescribed up to 20% of the time. 

The two most prescribed DOACs are rivaroxaban (brand name Xarelto) and apixaban (brand name Eliquis.)

SEE ALSO: Most blood thinner dosing problems happen after initial prescription

The sites that used the system the longest demonstrated a more significant decline in inappropriate prescribing. 

In Michigan, the Michigan Anticoagulation Quality Improvement Initiative, a multi-center collaborative of statewide hospitals, built a similar dashboard using the Epic™ electronic health record. 

Five hospitals across the state currently use that system, including University of Michigan Health. 

“This study provides one of the largest and most impactful evaluations of an anticoagulation stewardship effort to show reduction in adverse clinical events,” Barnes said.

“Health systems and policymakers should consider investing in anticoagulation stewardship efforts that support pharmacists in reviewing and correcting off label direct oral anticoagulant dosing for the benefit of millions of patients who take these medications.”

Additional authors: Joshua Errickson, Ph.D., F. Jacob Seagull, Ph.D., Michael P. Dorsch, PharmD, M.S., Jeremy B. Sussman, M.D., M.S., all of University of Michigan, Charity Chen, M.S., and Rob Holleman, M.P.H., Sussman, all of the Ann Arbor VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Arthur L Allen, PharmD, CACP, of Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, and Patrick Spoutz, PharmD, BCPS, of Veterans Integrates Service Network 20. 

Funding/disclosures: This project was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through grant R18HS026874.

Support for MAQI2 is provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network as part of the BCBSM Value Partnerships program.

Although Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and MAQI2 work collaboratively, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of BCBSM or any of its employees.

Barnes consults for Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen, Bayer and AstraZeneca. He is on the Board of Directors for the Anticoagulation Forum. 

Paper cited: “Pharmacist Use of a Population Management Dashboard for Safe Anticoagulant Prescribing: Evaluation of a Nation-wide Implementation Effort,” Journal of the American Heart AssociationDOI: 10.1161/JAHA.124.035859

Sign up for Health Lab newsletters today. Get medical tips from top experts and learn about new scientific discoveries every week by subscribing to Health Lab’s two newsletters, Health & Wellness and Research & Innovation.

Sign up for the Health Lab Podcast: Add us on SpotifyApple Podcasts or wherever you get you listen to your favorite shows.


More Articles About: Cardiovascular: Diseases & Conditions Coagulation Disorders Atrial fibrillation (Afib) Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Heart disease Arrhythmia or Abnormal Heart Rhythms Cardiovascular: Preventive Cardiology Cardiac Medications Medication Interactions Pharmacy Emerging Technologies Health Care Delivery, Policy and Economics
Health Lab word mark overlaying blue cells
Health Lab

Explore a variety of health care news & stories by visiting the Health Lab home page for more articles.

Media Contact Public Relations

Department of Communication at Michigan Medicine

[email protected]

734-764-2220

In This Story
Geoff Barnes headshot Geoffrey D Barnes, MD, MSc

Associate Professor

Stay Informed

Want top health & research news weekly? Sign up for Health Lab’s newsletters today!

Subscribe
Featured News & Stories On left, a young boy in a wheelchair has his doctor standing to his left and his parent is standing to his right in a show of support. On the right side of the image, the boy is now an adult and is wondering about the cost of his care and if his questions will be answered.
Health Lab
Changing the definition of cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is defined as a childhood disorder, which fails to recognize adults living with the condition and the lack of care they receive once they age out of pediatric clinics.
baby laying down with stethoscope over chest doctors hands
Health Lab
Comparing life threatening illness risk between two surgeries for infants with congenital heart disease
Newly presented data suggest that infants who receive a hybrid stage I palliation – a less invasive alternative for initial treatment – more commonly develop necrotizing enterocolitis compared to those who receive the standard Norwood operation, a complex open heart surgery.
purple gloves close up holding piece
Health Lab
Recycled pacemakers function as well as new devices, international study suggests
Recycled pacemakers can function as well as new devices, a University of Michigan-led study suggests. These used and reconditioned devices have the potential to increase access to pacemaker therapy in low- and middle-income countries, where many patients cannot afford the treatment.
floating AI-type images in red and blues and yellow on blue background
Health Lab
Racial differences in medical testing could introduce bias to AI models
Black patients are less likely than white patients to receive certain medical tests that doctors use to diagnose severe disease, impacting artificial intelligence data. But researchers have found a way to correct the bias in these data sets.
surgeon close up operating in bright lighted room
Health Lab
In 10 seconds, AI model detects cancerous brain tumor often missed during surgery
Researchers have developed an AI powered model that — in 10 seconds — can determine during surgery if any part of a cancerous brain tumor that could be removed remains, a study published in Nature suggests.
family of four sitting on couch in living room looking at an ipad laughing
Health Lab
Grandparents help grandkids in many ways – but the reverse may be true too
A poll shows the many ways (childcare, nutrition, major expenses) that grandparents help their grandchildren, but also suggests a link to older adults’ sense of isolation and their mental health.