The experience of Hamad General Hospital collaborative anticoagulation clinic in Qatar during the COVID-19 pandemic
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The experience of Hamad General Hospital collaborative anticoagulation clinic in Qatar during the COVID‑19 pandemic Ibtihal Abdallah1 · Asma Eltahir1 · Liam Fernyhough2,3 · Ahmed El‑Bardissy1 · Rana Ahmed1 · Mohammed Abdulgelil1 · Dina Elgaily1 · AbdulMoqeeth Mohammed4 · Ameena Jassim4 · Loluwa Barakat1 · Mazen Al‑Ansari4 · Mehak Javed1 · Raja Alkhawaja1 · Abdel‑nasser Elzouki3,4 Accepted: 7 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Hamad General Hospital Anticoagulation Clinic is one of the largest collaborative-practice clinics of its type in Qatar. The patients being followed at this clinic are typically complex and vulnerable. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, measures were implemented at the clinic to minimize the exposure of patients and healthcare providers to the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 and to promote social distancing. These measures included extending INR-recall period, transitioning to direct oral anticoagulant drugs whenever feasible, home visits to elderly and immunocompromised patients for INR testing, establishing an anticoagulation hotline, and relocation of warfarin dispensing from the main pharmacy to the anticoagulation clinic. In addition, the clinic shifted its multidisciplinary team meetings onto an online platform using Microsoft Teams. Telehealth consultations were extensively utilized to closely follow up with the patients and ensure that anticoagulation efficacy and safety remained optimal. The aim of this paper is to share our experience and describe the measures adopted by the clinic as part of the Hamad Medical Corporation response to the emerging situation. Keywords Anticoagulation · Clinical pharmacy · Collaborative practice · COVID-19 · Social distancing · Warfarin
Highlights • Anticoagulation drugs’ management is complex. • Pharmacist-led collaborative anticoagulation clinic is a
well-recognized model of care.
• COVID-19 pandemic forced the reshape of clinical prac-
tice.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-020-02276-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Asma Eltahir [email protected] 1
Clinical Pharmacy Department, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
2
Hematology Department, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
3
Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, Qatar
4
Internal Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
• We employed multiple measures to care for our patients
during the pandemic.
• Telemedicine is an important approach to help social dis-
tancing.
Introduction In late 2019, an unusual type of pneumonia was identified in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei Province of China. Later, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus was found to be the causative organism of this pneumonia, and the disease was given the name coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February 2020 by the World Health
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