Home Anticoagulation Monitoring Is An Effective Alternative to Coumadin Clinics

November 17, 2008 8:47 AM CT

In a study funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA hospital patients on warfarin for atrial fibrillation or mechanical heart valves were tracked and home anticoagulation monitoring was found to be every bit as effective as INR (International Normalized Ratio) testing in the hospital clinic.

Patients were followed for an average of three years. In that time, 7.9% of home monitoring patients had experienced a stroke, a major bleed, or death as compared to 8.9% of those tested in the clinic.

Thus, home monitoring can be considered to be an effective alternative for those who are disabled or must travel long distances to reach a clinic and are deemed able to perform home testing.

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Earlier this year, Medicare announced coverage for home testing, which opened the door for widespread coverage by insurance companies.

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