Long COVID clinic provides access to research studies and care for University of New Mexico patients
RECOVER researchers at the University of New Mexico have built connections between RECOVER studies and the university’s Long COVID clinic to ensure patients have access to resources and care.
Physician researchers at the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) RECOVER study site are conducting Long COVID research with, and also caring for, patients at UNM Hospital’s Long COVID clinic.
Dr. Michelle Harkins, co-principal investigator for UNM’s RECOVER observational study, sees patients in her pulmonary clinic who have worsened asthma after having COVID. “I try to help patients get through the symptomatic phase and hope for improvement,” says Harkins, who is also the division chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the UNM School of Medicine. For patients who need more specialized care, Dr. Harkins often refers them to Dr. Alisha Parada, a fellow RECOVER researcher and medical director of UNM Hospital’s Long COVID clinic.
Throughout their journey caring for and studying patients with COVID and Long COVID, both Dr. Harkins and Dr. Parada emphasize the importance of patient-centered care and research. "Believing [patients] is the most important thing,” says Dr. Parada. “Patients want to be able to ask questions and have a better understanding of what’s going on.”
Connecting research and care
At UNM, RECOVER researchers have built connections between RECOVER studies and the Long COVID clinic to ensure patients have access to resources and care. UNM is deeply involved in multiple RECOVER studies including both the adult and pediatric observational studies, the autopsy (or tissue pathology) study, and most recently, the RECOVER-VITAL, RECOVER-SLEEP, and RECOVER-ENERGIZE clinical trials. When Dr. Harkins interacts with a patient in one of her studies or in her clinic who doesn’t have access to Long COVID care, she lets them know about the Long COVID clinic. Similarly, Dr. Parada tells patients she sees in the clinic about the option to enroll in RECOVER studies. This close partnership allows patients to smoothly transition from care to research and vice versa.
“Patients have been very willing to participate in studies,” says Dr. Parada. “They want to be able to contribute to advancing the understanding of what’s going on with Long COVID. We have patients from all over the state who travel to the university to participate in RECOVER because they feel it’s that important.”
Evolving to meet patient needs
UNM Hospital’s Long COVID clinic was not originally founded to treat Long COVID. The clinic was created in 2020 to make sure that patients who were very ill with COVID-19 stayed connected with care. The clinic also provided telemedicine visits and outpatient care for patients who could not come into the hospital. When antibody treatments became available to help with the worst symptoms of COVID, the clinic was instrumental in making this option available to its patients.
As early as 2020, patients were returning to the clinic because they still had symptoms long after getting COVID. Patients were also reporting different types of symptoms. “We knew we needed to transition to think about Long COVID,” Dr. Harkins says. “We didn’t understand what was happening or what would help these people.”
The need to understand more about Long COVID motivated Dr. Harkins, Dr. Parada, and others at UNM to become part of RECOVER. Meanwhile, UNM Hospital’s Long COVID clinic evolved and adapted to meet the emerging needs of Long COVID patients. Dr. Parada works to establish and foster meaningful and trusting relationships with her patients by asking them about their desired outcomes, recognizing that success may look different for every patient. Then, she offers treatment and care recommendations, educating her patients about the potential benefits and risks of each option and empowering them to make the decision that is best for them.
Looking to the future
As more information about Long COVID becomes available, Dr. Harkins and Dr. Parada are raising awareness about this complex condition. They say that providers across the country will need more education to be able to diagnose Long COVID consistently and accurately. Together, they lead a project called Post-COVID Primary Care ECHO, which provides training, technical assistance, and mentorship to rural primary care providers to help them identify, diagnose, treat and provide follow-up care for post-COVID patients. Dr. Harkins had the opportunity to share work and findings from RECOVER in a recent educational session hosted by the project. In addition, Dr. Harkins and Dr. Parada will continue working on RECOVER clinical trials while connecting with other RECOVER researchers across the country to compare notes and share observations. “Being part of a big network like RECOVER is helpful now, and will be helpful in the future for the next pandemic,” says Dr. Harkins.
Dr. Parada agrees, reflecting on RECOVER’s direct impact on her patients. Each piece of data gathered and findings that emerge from the initiative’s work brings researchers closer to the answers that will help the patients visiting Long COVID clinics. “Information is power,” she says.