Therapeutic heparin monitoring service in a small community hospital

Upon the request of members of the medical staff, the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at Tawas St. Joseph Hospital began monitoring patients receiving full-dose continuous intravenous heparin therapy. Problems were noted in the usage of activated partial thromboplastin times and the resultant changes in heparin therapy. The problems identified during this quality assurance activity were addressed by a heparin protocol developed by a clinical pharmacist. The protocol includes giving patients a heparin loading dose of 50-100 units/kg actual body weight, an initial infusion rate of 15-20 units/kg/hr, and drawing the first activated partial thromboplastin time 6 hours later. After the results of the activated partial thromboplastin times are known, the protocol provides for further patient management and changes in infusion rates, if needed. A review of the heparin protocol use at 6 months after initial implementation, and 6 months after minor changes in the protocol, showed that clinical pharmacists improved heparin therapy in the patients they treated. Pharmacists used larger initial continuous infusion rates, less activated partial thromboplastin times during treatment, and patients they managed reached therapeutic activated partial thromboplastin time ranges earlier than patients treated by physicians. When voluntarily prescribed by physicians, full-dose continuous intravenous heparin therapy initiated and monitored by clinical pharmacists improved the quality of patient's anticoagulation treatment during hospitalization.