Courtesy of

Courtesy of

Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s cardiology department opened the doors of its new Anticoagulation Clinic on Feb. 19. The clinic treats referred patients taking anticoagulation medication, specifically Coumadin and Warfarin.

In the past, patients had to go to their physicians to be referred to a lab, then go to the lab to get a full blood sample and wait almost a week for the results to return to their physician.

The clinic offers a quick blood sampling method that provides results in about a minute. A registered nurse makes a dose adjustment is made within the clinic with the assistance of a software program that manages the clinic’s data.

Patients taking anticoagulation medication are supposed to have an INR blood test monthly to readjust their medication dosage. The test measures the blood’s ability to clot. The dose adjustment is made to reduce the medication side effect of bleeding and thromboembolic events, which are when clots break loose and are carried down the blood stream.

Anticoagulation medication is a blood thinner that helps prevent clots that lead to strokes. The most common disorder that is prescribed this medication is Atrial Fibrillation (AF), which causes an irregular heartbeat, making it more difficult for the chambers of the human heart to empty blood properly into the body. AF alone affects more than 2 million Americans.

The other leading disorders include deep vein thrombosis, the development of blood clots in a deep vein and pulmonary embolism – a circumstance where a clot breaks loose and travels to the lungs.

“March is actually DVT (Deep Vein Thrombrosis) Awareness Month, so the clinic is opening at a good time,” said Ann Messier, a registered nurse of CDH’s cardiology department.

Anticoagulation clinics are common in larger hospitals. Western Massachusetts medical centers such as Holyoke Hospital, Mercy Medical Center, Riverbend Medical Group and VA Medical Center have their own clinics.

“Cooley Dickinson Hospital has been talking about adding a clinic to their facility for years. But when the decision was finally made, it only took six months to implicate,” said Messier.

The Anticoagulation Clinic is located on the first floor of the main entrance and is open Monday through Friday with a referral from a physician. It is managed by a trained registered nurse with oversight from clinic medical director George Bowers, a medical oncologist/hematologist.

The clinic currently has four patients and is in process of welcoming 100 more referred patients.

Elyse Wood can be reached at [email protected].