Computerized Clinical Decision Support Improves Warfarin Management and Decreases Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism

BACKGROUND: An explicit approach to warfarin dose adjustment using computerized clinical decision support (CDS) improves warfarin management. We report metrics of quality for warfarin management before and after implementation of CDS in a large health care system. METHODS: A total of 2591 chronically anticoagulated patients were eligible for inclusion. We compared interpatient time in therapeutic range (TTR) and international normalized ratio (INR) variability before and after implementation of CDS. We report outcomes of major bleeding, thrombosis, and health care utilization. RESULTS: Implementation of CDS significantly improved TTR (from 63.99% to 65.13%; P = .04) and reduced out-of-range INRs (from 42.39% to 39.97%; P < .001). Venous thromboembolism (relative risk [RR] 0.41; P < .001) emergency department utilization (RR 0.62; P < .001), and hospitalization (RR 0.62; P < .001) were reduced after CDS implementation. Major hemorrhage was more frequent after CDS implementation (RR 1.42; P = .01). CONCLUSION: The CDS warfarin management was associated with improved TTR and decreased INR variability in a large cohort of chronically anticoagulated patients. Clinically relevant outcomes were broadly improved, although more bleeding events were observed.