A new app designed by a multidisciplinary team including Marisa B. Marques, M.D., a professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pathology in the Division of Lab Medicine, aims to guide the user in lab testing and the administration of anticoagulant drugs.

The Anticoagulation Manager (ACM) App is a free mobile app developed by researchers with the CDC and the Georgia Institute of Technology. It serves as a resource for clinicians to assist in the correct dosage and frequency of the appropriate drug for patients with various thrombotic risks or diagnoses. The app walks users through possible patient scenarios, such as “start a patient on anticoagulation” or “reverse a patient’s anticoagulation,” then prompts a selection of the patient’s condition and provides options based on specific traits of each individual, such as age, comorbidities, and other medications he or she is taking.

“This app was designed with the goal of decreasing the confusion experienced by clinicians when ordering lab tests and choosing or managing a patient’s anticoagulation,” Marques said. “Solutions for these challenges will improve utilization of laboratory services and reduce diagnostic and treatment errors and delays.”

The app, available on any Apple device, aims to guide the user in lab testing and the administration of anticoagulate drugs.

Marques is one of two pathologists who created the app with the technical assistance of the CDC, along with Michael Laposata, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

The project is the work of the CDC’s Clinical Laboratory Integration into Healthcare Collaborative (CLIHC™), established by the CDC’s Division of Laboratory Systems to “develop solutions to optimize the effective use of laboratory services for better patient care,” according to its website. The app was a response to a need for challenges faced by clinicians when choosing and monitoring anticoagulants.

Marques previously worked with Laposata on the development of another app for the CDC called Partial Thromboplastin Time or PTT Advisor, which aims to assist in the ordering and evaluation of a prolonged PTT.

Read the UAB News article about Dr. Marques' role in the development of this app.