Why Warfarin Should Be Managed in Primary Care

Katherine Montag Schafer; Anne Keenan

doi:10.1370/afm.2828

Why Warfarin Should Be Managed in Primary Care

Ann Fam Med. 2022 Jul-Aug;20(4):379-380. doi: 10.1370/afm.2828.

Authors

Katherine Montag Schafer¹, Anne Keenan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, St Paul, Minnesota monta080@umn.edu.
² Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, St Paul, Minnesota.

Abstract

For 5 years, our family medicine clinic's physician-pharmacy team managed anticoagulation onsite. Now, against our recommendations and desires as a clinic, anticoagulation at our site is no longer managed by our local interdisciplinary team. Instead, it is being managed by our system's centralized anticoagulation team. Although some may point out that anticoagulation management is one small element of our practice, we believe eliminating this could open the door to other changes to our scope of practice. Anticoagulation belongs in primary care where comprehensive care, ongoing relationships between patients and care teams, and flexible office visit agendas optimize this service.

Keywords: anticoagulation; family practice; integrated health care delivery; patient care team; patient-centered care.

MeSH terms

Ambulatory Care Facilities
Anticoagulants* / therapeutic use
Humans
Office Visits
Primary Health Care
Warfarin* / therapeutic use

Substances

Anticoagulants
Warfarin