Vitamin K antagonists have been the only available oral anticoagulant therapy for decades until the recent introduction of novel (new) oral anticoagulants. This breakthrough provides patients with alternative treatment choices that have predictable pharmacokinetics and do not require routine coagulation monitoring. Though more convenient from patient perspective, these drugs have distinct pharmacological properties that are particularly important to recognize when transitioning anticoagulant therapies. The following review focuses on transitioning to and from the novel oral anticoagulants, employing a practical pharmacokinetic- and pharmacodynamic-based approach. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media.