Jones ’10 takes care to the street

Blood clots show no respect for pandemics. So Brittany Cogdill Jones ’10 had to figure out a way to make sure her patients taking warfarin could continue to get their blood-thinners without endangering them to increased risk of infection. 

Many of her patients fell into a population vulnerable to the coronavirus, and their medications and access to pharmacy care were inside a hospital full of people. 

“COVID-19 has forced me to think outside the box and become innovative in finding new ways to see our Pharmacotherapy Clinic patients,” said the clinical pharmacy specialist in ambulatory care at MUSC.  “One of our major patient populations are those that take warfarin (Coumadin), a serious medication that needs frequent monitoring.”

The monitoring is done via an international normalized ratio (INR) test, which is the international standard for the prothrombin time test that measures the time it takes blood to clot.  

“We were able to come up with curbside INRs as a way to still see these patients without them having to even step inside of a hospital building,” she said. “Patients as well as our clinical pharmacists are really excited to have this opportunity for a safer alternative to monitoring.”