Drive-Through Model for Anticoagulation Clinics During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a major challenge for providers and patients. A large number of patients with atrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism, or valvular heart disease are chronically anticoagulated with vitamin K antagonists and rely on frequent follow ups at antic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kaveh Rezaei Bookani MD, Iva Minga MD, Manisha Chander PharmD, Ksenia Hankewych PharmD, Matthew Plassmeier PharmD, Alfonso Tafur MD, MS
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-08-01
Series:Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1076029620947476
Description
Summary:The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a major challenge for providers and patients. A large number of patients with atrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism, or valvular heart disease are chronically anticoagulated with vitamin K antagonists and rely on frequent follow ups at anticoagulation clinics for management of their anticoagulation therapy. The need for isolation during COVID-19 pandemic can potentially limit access to health care including anticoagulation clinics and directly affect the care of patients on chronic anticoagulation. Therefore, we created a drive-through clinic to bridge the gap of continuation of care and preservation of social distancing precautions. In this manuscript, we report the steps in implementing such initiative which can be applied to other clinics during a pandemic.
ISSN:1938-2723