October 2010 Newsletter
Welcome to AC Forum's first electronic newsletter. We are bringing you the same high quality information in a new environmentally-friendly e-mail format. We invite you to share this bulletin with your colleagues and encourage them to join our mailing list.
Announcing for the first time. AC Forum Conference Travel Awards. Travel awards will be granted to 10 candidates who best demonstrate a combination of financial need and desire to further their professional knowledge in the field of antithrombotic therapy. See the Travel Award Application for details.
The 11th National Conference on Anticoagulant Therapy will be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, MA. Highlights include presentations by expert speakers, small group sessions, discussions about where anticoagulation research and patient care is heading in the next decade, opportunities to network with colleagues from around the world, Meet the Expert Breakfast (back by popular demand!), and much more. Join us as we celebrate the AC Forum's 20th anniversary in conjunction with the conference proceedings.
On-line registration is now available. Register now for the 11th National Conference on Anticoagulation Therapy on our website www.acforum.org.
Please be sure to check out the links on the right hand menu for the Conference Brochure, Conference Registration, Instructions for abstract preparation, Abstract submission form, Travel Award application, Conference Agenda, and more.
|
Arming Healthcare Professionals to Alan Brownstein, MPH, Chief Executive Officer On August 3, the National Blood Clot Alliance (formerly the National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia-NATT) launched its online curriculum for nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists to help increase understanding about the diagnosis and treatment of blood clots and blood clotting disorders. Thanks to AC Forum members who assisted us in developing this curriculum by your participation in our needs assessment two years ago. And special thanks to AC Forum members who actually wrote the lessons as members of NBCAs Curriculum Development: Laura Earl, RN BSN CACP, Kathleen McCool, PharmD BCPS CACP, Stephan Moll, MD, Elizabeth Varga, MS CGC, Diane Wirth, ANP-BC CACP. New NBCA Newsletter Good news-the National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) is now sending its newsletter to all AC Forum members (until now each clinic received a single copy). You should have received your copy in early September. This issue has a special focus on Orthopedics and DVT/PE prevention by Richard Friedman, M.D., and a perspective on Healthcare Reform from NBCA President Randy Fenninger. This is an excellent resource for your patients and additional copies can be downloaded from the National Blood Clot Alliance website www.stoptheclot.org. New NBCA Officers
|
 |
Stop The Clot ®: What Every Healthcare Professional Should Know National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) produced an easily accessible, self-paced, no-cost online curriculum for nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists on risk, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of blood clots and blood clotting disorders. It was done as part of a cooperative agreement with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The overall intent is to improve health outcomes of patients diagnosed with thrombosis and/or thrombophilia. The curriculum is divided into five lessons: 1) Basics of Clotting 2) Basics of Thrombophilia 3) Anticoagulant Medications 4) Post-Thrombotic Syndrome/Pulmonary Hypertension and 5) Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism. This comprehensive content is designed to influence delivery of quality care and accurate health information on blood clots and clotting disorders to patients. Individual lessons contain key clinical "teachable moments," reinforced by various learning strategies that include graphics, reference charts, images, videos, interactive exercises, and review questions with explanations to engage the learner. A post-test follows each lesson and continuing education is available upon completion of all five lessons, a final post-test, and an evaluation. Target Audience: Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists, Physician Assistants
Continuing Education: Available for nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, and physicians. This curriculum is supported by Cooperative Agreement U27 DD00326 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
A significant and important milestone has been achieved by the National Certification Board of Anticoagulation Providers. As of mid-2010, important changes to the traditional examination process went into effect. Highlights of these changes are summarized below:
- Application Process: All required forms and documents are now submitted electronically, this includes the application payment via PayPal®. The experiential, clinical practice component (formerly achieved with submission of patient encounters) is now accomplished by validating clinical hours. A minimum of 750 direct patient care hours are required during the preceeding 18 month period.
- Electronic, online examination opportunities for ALL CACP examinations (initial and re-certification): Monthly examination date options are available and posted on our website. Exam dates must be pre-approved with the testing site AND the NCBAP administrator in advance of application submission.
These changes were made in order to be responsive to anticoagulation clinicians and at the same time become more consistent with most national certification formats. By so doing, the NCBAP improves access and frequency of testing for the CACP exam, something frequently voiced by our clinical constituents. The electronic format used for all aspects of the application process as well as the examination will improve efficiency and uphold NCBAP mission and goals. These changes reflect many months of significant hard work by the Board of Directors and especially Marie Walker, our administrator.
Another significant accomplishment for the NCBAP is the formal recognition of the CACP national certification exam by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). This means that the CACP exam and certification process appears on the Magnet recognized certification list that hospitals use for their Demographic Information Form. It is listed in the M category, under the cardiovascular domain. "M" category includes national multidisciplinary certifications. The Magnet Recognition Program® was developed by the AANC to recognize health care organizations that provide nursing excellence.
Thus far, 63 clinicians have made arrangements to take the CACP exam. Of those, 27 have already taken the exam at pre-approved testing facilities. The NCBAP has a collaborative working relationship with the National College Testing Association (NCTA), Consortium of College Testing Centers (CCTC). This organization lists testing sites across the country, see: www.ncta-testing.org/cctc/find.php. If you do not find a site within a reasonable distance from your home or work, then acceptable alternatives can be explored. Keep in mind, paper examinations are no longer offered and thus, there is not an exam scheduled prior to the next ACForum Conference as traditionally done. We invite you to visit our website: www.ncbap.org to learn more. Our Candidate Handbook is easily printed and lists the details you need to know.
The NCBAP is pleased to announce and welcome new board member Maureen Howard, FNP, BC, CACP of the Staten Island University Hospital Anticoagulation Center. Maureen has over 35 years of experience as a registered nurse and has been a family nurse practitioner for the past 12. During the past 8 years, she has served as the administrative director of the SIUH Anticoagulation Center. Maureen's experience and knowledge of anticoagulation needs will provide helpful insights to our multidisciplinary board.
As of August 1, 2010, the NCBAP is pleased to announce the achievement of the CACP credential to the following clinicians:
- Paul Otto, PharmD - Inkom, ID
- Rose Wong, RPh - Newcastle, WA
- Ellen Keith, RPh - Park Ridge, IL
- Courtney Zukowski, Pharm D - Fuquay Varina, NC
- Julie Kim, PharmD, MBA, BCPS - Jamaica Plain, MA
- Justin Saulino, PharmD - Charlestown, MA
- Erika Evans-Johnson, PharmD - Crockett, CA
- Simone Minto-Pennant, PharmD - Winter Springs, FL
- Beth A. Boyce, PharmD - Linden, MI
- Daniel Serrano, PharmD - Edmonds, WA
- Linda Nahlik, PharmD - Hinsdale, IL
- Alice Wen, PharmD - Foster City, CA
- Kathryn Barr, APN - Scottsdale, AZ
Studies of twins and families indicate that venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk (including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) is partly inherited. Inherited changes within genes are known to increase the risk for VTE (e.g., Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin G20210A), and much research has been directed at identifying other genes that may increase the risk for VTE (termed "VTE-susceptibility genes"). One way to discover VTE-susceptibility genes is by studying families in which the risk of VTE appears to be very high.
We are pursuing family-based studies of VTE. We are particularly interested in identifying families in which: 1) three or more blood-related family members have had VTE and are alive; 2) at least one brother or sister has had VTE and at least one older brother or sister without VTE is alive; and 3) at least one daughter or son has had VTE and both parents and their children are alive.
We have designed a public web site so that a person with a high VTE-risk family (i.e., a family that meets the above criteria) may visit and complete three web-based questionnaires. This will allow us to construct family trees, and learn more about race, family ancestry and medical history that relates to VTE.
If any of your patients are potentially interested in participating in this important research project, please suggest that they go to VTEfamilysurvey.isl.net and follow the instructions provided. Completion of the questionnaires may take approximately 30-60 minutes. If your patients have questions, they can send an e-mail to vtefamilystudy@mayo.edu and a study coordinator will reply to their questions. If your patients do not have internet access they may still participate in this study by calling this toll-free number, 877-472-4302. They should leave their name, address and phone number, and a paper copy of the questionnaire and consent form will be mailed to the address provided.
If it is felt that the patient's family is likely to provide further valuable information, the patient may be contacted at some future date to provide more information regarding their family and to provide a saliva sample from which their DNA will be extracted for research purposes. At that time they will be given the option to participate or decline further study. This initial study will not ask the patient to identify any family members by name.
We emphasize that visiting this web site and completing the questionnaires is completely voluntary. All provided information will be kept strictly confidential. Any publications that use this information will be of a summary nature only and will not identify any specific individual or family. If, at any future time, the patient should decide not to participate in this study, all of their provided information will be destroyed upon receipt of a written request. All information (including genetic information) discovered from this study will be of a research nature only. Since such information is inappropriate for counseling or decision making, neither the patient nor their family will receive any of the information discovered from this study.
Lynn B. Oertel, MS, ANP, CACP; Ann Wittkowsky, PharmD, CACP, FASHP, FCCP
The Situation
Poor compliance on the part of the patient to obtain INR blood tests as directed by the anticoagulation clinic. As a result, frequent notices, including the potential for discharge from anticoagulation management service, were sent to the patient on a recurring and frequent basis.
The Case
The patient in question is a 60 year old man on long-term warfarin therapy for DVT and PE. The patient works in sales his job requires international travel quite often. His initial presentation with DVT/PE occurred in 2006; treatment continues due to his high risk related to likely hypercoagulapathy (his testing inconclusive but father had fatal PE, unprovoked) and long-distance travel.
The Problem
Comprehensive anticoagulation management services have detailed mechanisms for patient follow-up. Such programs identify patients who miss scheduled blood test dates and prompts action for the clinical staff . Thus, valuable resources in terms of time are spent tracking these patients and providing appropriate counseling about the danger of missing blood tests. Often, the referring physician and his staff may also be called upon to collaborate on such management issues. This patient's primary anticoagulation clinician observed that the patient's employment requires frequent travel, often out-of-state or country. Could there be a better solution for periodic blood testing?
The Solution
To address the problem of finding time to get to a laboratory, the AMS clinician explained the concept and expectation for self testing. The patient was interested and began self testing almost 6 months ago. Since then, he has faithfully tested and reported INR values weekly as directed. He continues on a stable weekly maintenance dose and virtually all INRs have been in therapeutic range since he began self testing at home. Patient self testing is an option that should be considered to assist patients in achieving compliance with all aspects of their anticoagulation management plan.
|
Our Mission The Anticoagulation Forum is a multidisciplinary nonprofit organization of health care professionals that will improve the quality of care for patients taking antithrombotic medications. Join the Forum There is no charge to join the Forum. If you are not yet a registered member, please take a quick moment to join the AC Forum. Contact Elizabeth Goldstein |
Board of Directors
|