How We Accommodate Clinical Patient Safety during COVID-19 for a High-Risk Patient
High Risk Patient during a Pandemic
While most of the world has avoided travel throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the most vulnerable people needed to feel a sense of patient safety while they continued to travel. A high-risk patient still must travel, even in these circumstances, to receive necessary medical treatment. During a pandemic, traveling creates a predicament for clinical travel coordinators and trial sponsors, who always want to ensure patient safety. A high-risk patient might wonder, “How can they get the treatment they need without compromising their health while they are en route?” The pandemic has genuinely shown the importance of having trusted partners willing to go the extra mile to ensure a high-risk patient feels a sense of patient safety while traveling and staying within budget restrictions.
We Support Requests for a High-Risk Patient by Ensuring Special Arrangements
Making sure a high-risk patient feels safe while traveling is a top priority. One patient needed ground transportation across state lines and was fearful that her compromised immune system would make for complications if she contracted COVID-19. One of our trusted partners that we often contract with for car service requires all drivers to wear a mask and gloves. They are also cleaning the cars after each use, but those measures were not necessarily enough assurance for our high-risk patient. She wanted to ensure that the driver tested negative for the virus before her trip.
Our clinical coordinator contacted another one of our trusted partners that could arrange for a driver who had tested negative for COVID-19 to accommodate this high-risk patient’s needs. Also, they could arrange for a limousine, which would create a more social distance ride. Thanks to a rush approval with a one-time exception from the trial sponsor, our clinical coordinator was able to follow through with this plan at the very last minute for this high-risk patient.
Why a Positive Connection with Trusted Partners is Important
At Colpitts Clinical, we build connections with several trusted partners to ensure patient safety for all of our high-risk patients. Our Colpitts’ UK office maintains a vast network of travel partners, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that they could accommodate sedan rides with a driver who had tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before one of our high-risk patient’s travel. Our clinical coordinator was thrilled to set this high-risk patient’s mind at ease while complying with the trial sponsor’s budget restrictions. After hours of research and some stringent deadlines, it is more apparent than ever that having more options with various trusted partners is better to accommodate multiple unique high-risk patient needs, especially during a global pandemic. Our top priority is patient safety while making our clients comfortable.
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By Suzanne Moscardelli
