Reviewing a clinical decision aid for the selection of anticoagulation treatment in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation: applications in a US managed care health plan database

This is a review for Steven B. Deitelzweig, MD, MMM, Yonghua Jing, PhD, Jason P. Swindle, PhD, MPH, and Dinara Makenbaeva's, MD, MBA Reviewing a Clinical Decision Aid for the Selection of Anticoagulation Treatment in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: Applications in a US Managed Care Health Plan Database.

Background

There have been many anticoagulants, besides Warfarin (such as apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban) that have been introduced and accepted as effective treatment options to prevent and treat stroke and systemic embolism patients. All of these therapy alternatives have their own risks as well as unique benefits and it can be difficult for clinicians to pick the best one for each specific patient's circumstance. In order to help mitigate this issue, a clinical decision aid was created to help prescribing clinicians choose the best type of coagulation therapy by comparing the available treatment options with a particular patient's individual factors such as risk values and bleeding ratio.