Effect of rivaroxaban starter packs on emergency department throughput

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine 2018-09, Vol.36 (9), p.1698-1699
• Main Authors: Ayers, Gina T., D'Amico, PhD, Frank, Farrah, Roberta M., Klatt, Patricia M., Baumgartner, Megan A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anticoagulants; Emergency department; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Factor Xa Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Factor Xa Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Humans; Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Readmission - statistics & numerical data; Patient satisfaction; Rivaroxaban; Rivaroxaban - administration & dosage; Rivaroxaban - therapeutic use; Thromboembolism; Venous thromboembolism; Venous Thromboembolism - drug therapy
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2018.01.043

Furthermore, treatment with either enoxaparin or a single dose of a direct oral anticoagulant often requires determination of outpatient costs to ensure medication access post-discharge. Patient satisfaction was not measured; however, an additional benefit of the starter pack is improved medication access. [...]challenges with delays in filling prescriptions or problems with initial insurance coverage may be avoided, especially during the period of highest VTE recurrence [6]. Characteristic Starter pack (n = 86) Other (n = 169) P-value Age (yr) - mean (SD) 54.5 (16.4) 54.5 (16.5) 0.99 Female sex - freq. (%) 43 (50) 74 (43.8) 0.36 Charlson Comorbidity Index – mean (SD) 2.8 (2.3) 2.9 (2.3) 0.82 Serum creatinine (mg/dL) - mean (SD) 0.93 (0.29) 0.92 (0.36) 0.78 DVTa - freq. (%) 78 (91.8) 160 (95.2) 0.27 Diagnostic imaging prior to ED visit - freq. (%) 52 (60.5) 88 (52.1) 0.23 Additional diagnostic imaging - freq. (%) 20 (23.3) 23 (13.6) 0.05 Medical consult - freq. (%) 2 (2.3) 6 (3.6) 0.7 Table 1 Baseline characteristics by study group.