The Palo Alto Medical Foundation's (PAMF) Anticoagulation Clinic tests and treats patients whose blood must be monitored periodically to check its level of coagulability (ability to clot) and determine the amount of medication that may be required to maintain a proper level. The main medication given is an oral anticoagulant, whose brand name is Coumadin and generic name is warfarin.

Patients with a variety of diagnoses, including histories of heart disease or stroke and artificial valve replacements, require this type of medication to minimize the likelihood of blood clots.

The average patient visits the Anticoagulation Clinic once a month and some 500-plus patients are seen regularly at the Palo Alto location. The Fremont Center opened a similar clinic in 2001.

Patients visit the clinic at their appointed times for testing, and the results are almost instantaneous. There is immediate and ongoing communication with the patient regarding what they can do to help maintain their correct levels of medication.