Bleeding disorders
What is a bleeding disorder?
It is a medical condition that affects the body’s ability to clot the blood. Most of the time when a person is hurt, the body helps stop the bleeding quickly by using:
- Blood cells called platelets
- Proteins called clotting factors
In people with bleeding disorders, either:
- The platelets do not work the right way or are low
- The clotting factors are low or missing
These cause bleeding problems, which can be mild to severe. Most bleeding disorders are inherited, but some are the result of a random spontaneous mutation. They can also be the result of certain conditions or side effects of some medicines.
Common bleeding disorders are:
- Hemophilia (factor VIII and factor IX deficiency)
- Von Willebrand disease
- Other factor deficiencies
- Platelet disorders
What are hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs)?
- HTCs are health care centers with specialists to treat all aspects of a person’s bleeding disorder.
- HTCs get funding from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Studies of people with hemophilia show that people who get care from a HTC are much less likely to be in the hospital for a bleeding concern than people who do not get their care from a HTC.
What is comprehensive care?
The model of care used by HTCs is called comprehensive care.
- The goal is to treat the whole person rather than just one aspect of the bleeding disorder.
- It focuses on developing partnerships between patients, families, primary care doctors, and specialists.
Our services
Our care team has:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Physical therapists
- Dental hygienist
- Social worker
- Research coordinator
- Genetic counselor
- Pharmacist
Comprehensive clinic visits often happen every year, or every other year for milder bleeding disorders. At each visit, the HTC staff works with the patient to make a treatment plan. The plan is given to the patient and is also shared with the patient’s other providers to help guide personalized bleeding disorder treatment.
We also coordinate care with other departments, such as:
- Infectious Disease
- Hepatology
- Orthopedics
- Obstetrics and Gynecology