Identification and early anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation in the emergency department

Emergency departments (ED) in the United States see more than half a million atrial fibrillation visits a year, however guideline recommended anticoagulation is prescribed in <55% of eligible patients. The purpose of this study was to measure guideline recommended anticoagulation prescribing in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) presenting to the ED, with the goal of closing any treatment gap established. We conducted an observational, prospective cohort study in consecutive patients presenting to the ED with a diagnosis of NVAF. CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were calculated and used as predefined criteria to establish guideline-based oral anticoagulation compliance in comparing routine care (baseline cohort) versus a multidisciplinary team approach. Transition of Care (TOC) services and follow-up were also provided in the multidisciplinary cohort. The primary endpoint was to compare the proportion of patients on guideline based oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy at admission and discharge between the groups. In the Baseline Cohort (BC) ( n  = 99), 62.3% of patients with a moderate-high risk of stroke (CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2) were discharged on guideline-based OAC therapy versus 87.8% in the Multidisciplinary Team Cohort (MTC) ( n  = 131), a 25.5% overall improvement for appropriate anticoagulation ( p -value <.001, 95% CI (0.14–0.37)). A multidisciplinary team approach with TOC services for the identification and early intervention of NVAF patients at risk of stroke in the ED can significantly improve the percentage of moderate to high-risk patients that are discharged home with guideline based OAC.