Blood thinners are the preferred treatment option to prevent heart attacks, blood clots and stroke, but they are not without risk, and not just because of their side effects. These high-risk drugs, known as anticoagulants, account for nearly 7 percent of medication errors in hospitalized patients.
With health care organizations facing greater pressure to ensure the safe and effective use of anticoagulants, new guidelines have been developed by a panel of health care experts led by Edith Nutescu, clinical pharmacy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and director of UIC's Antithrombosis Center, and endorsed by the board of directors of the Anticoagulation Forum, a group dedicated to optimizing anticoagulation care.
The eight procedures have been published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy .
Nutescu was assisted by Ann Wittkowsky, University of Washingtion, Seattle; Allison Burnett, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque; Dr. Geno Merli, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia; Dr. Jack Ansell, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York; and Dr. David Garcia, University of Washington, Seattle.
Annals of Pharmacotherapy