Delivering Anticoagulation Services in Pharmacies

In recent years many PCOs have been working closely with local community pharmacists to expand anticoagulation services. Their aim is to manage oral anticoagulation therapy closer to the patient's home, avoiding more time consuming visits to hospital for the same service. This emerging model of care can have benefits in reduced waiting times, providing greater continuity of care - as often just the pharmacist runs the clinics - and providing a cost effective service.

Official guidelines state that such services should make use of Clinical Decision Support Software (CDSS). In addition to the numerous benefits associated with the effective use of CDSS, local governance and other concerns can be addressed, promoting consistent best practice and reducing overall workload.

Pharmacist led services – or those where pharmacists are an important part of the local provider solution - are seen as important reflections of government policy and a logical use of a valuable professional resource.

For those pharmacies wishing to offer anticoagulation clinics as an independent service INRstar offers the preferred software solution.

Example Scenario: Pharmacies

• Typically a patient is referred by a consultant to a GP, who then refers the patient to the pharmacy. The pharmacist then manages the patients anticoagulation and establishes their monitoring plan.

An increasing number of pharmacies use INRstar to provide a sophisticated NPSA-compliant anticoagulation service. To find out how you can join them, get in touch.