AmyHar,

Here is a patient article by two of the leading blood clot researchers here in the U.S. that discusses Home INR machines.

http://www.stoptheclot.org/News/article120.htm

The website you mention belongs to QAS/Alere who sells the machines for several different companies (Hemosense, Roche, and ITC).

Here are other vendors which sell them:
http://www.hemosense.com/patient/purchase.shtml

R/
Tom

I asked my hematologist about them after reading how some people use them to "judge" their risk factor when deciding to engage in potentially dangerous activities like mt biking or playing hockey. The thought was... "might go play hockey... Check my inr to see if I am at a high risk of bleeding, decide on going with the result" My doctor strongly discouraged against it. He said the results from these testers are not anywhere near as accurate as a lab result, and if you begin to use it to adjust your dosage, it might say you are a 1.9 when in reality you are a 4.9 and end up with internal organ bleeding and all kinds of problems, or it could go the other way and then more clots. He certainly made me think twice about it so I took his advice.

It would very interesting to hear from people who may be using these testers and see what their experiences have been.

Retirednavy... Thanks for the links! You always contribute so much to everyone here and we all apreciate it VERY much!!

Hockeykopp, one of the authors of the article I mentioned is Dr. Jack Ansell. Jack was head of the Anticoagulation Forum which consists of a majority of the Coumadin Clinics around the Country. Anyways, Jack will be the first to advocate for use of Home INR machines and has been part of a study which determined they can be as accurate as old school lab testing.

A majority of the hospitals are now using INR machines for Coumadin patients. One area of concern that I have is, sometimes when the INR level is in the upper 3.8 and above, some machines may not be as accurate over others. When I had my hip replaced there were two occasions where the Coumadin Clinic had my INR at 3.8 but ordered a blood draw which ended up showing in reality it was 2.8. This was machine specific rather then reflective of all Home INR machines. Their machine was an older Roche one which was way past due for replacement.

Anyways, here is a link to Dr. Ansell talking about Home INR testing that was on a Discovery Health Channel Medical CME:

http://www.ptinr.com/data/templates/article.aspx?a=753&z=4

One downside of Home INR testing is, not all doctors will prescribe one. Truth be told, the main reason is the Lab will lose patients which in turns means less money for the hospital. Not a lot of incentive to have doctors at those hospital prescribe one. Dr. Moll mentions this in a posting discussing MEDICARE/MEDICAID approval of the device:

http://www.stoptheclot.org/News/article108.htm

Dr. Moll and Dr. Ansell are big supporters of them.

R/
Tom

Tom, thanks again !! You do a great job of providing outstanding information resources!

After reading the articles over I might re-visit the idea of home testing. I love to play hockey and miss it very much. I figure if I give up playing high emotion competitive games and just engage in over 35 "old fart" recreational hockey I can live with myself. I also have a job where I might be working on an island by myself with a chainsaw. So if I had that piece of mind knowing that my inr was within range and not putting me a higher risk of bleeding, it could help me make a more informed decision about what I might do.

I already know my insurance will not cover this. However, my doc gave me the info about home testing today and told me to look over it. The problem is, I cant find any prices lol

I just sent the information in to see how much my insurance will cover if I purchase a machine. It's a Coagucheck (?) and the same machine that they've used at my doctor's office for over a year. I did have the same issue with inconsistencies when it showed over 3.5 but not off by that much. I'm really hoping I can get one.

I use a home monitoring system and I like the convenience of not having to go to the lab every time I need my Protime checked. Right now I am checking once a week as I am in the process of bridging back from being off Coumadin for a surgery. One thing nice about the company I subscribe to to help me monitor my PR/INR is they fax my results to my doctor immediately and also put me straight through to my doctors office if my results are above or below therapeutic. They also will call me to double check what I entered as my results, and to make sure I did indeed talk to a health care provider. My provider is QAS/ Alere home medical and I am very happy with not only the machine but also with the services they provide me. My machine is an InRatio 2 and is very accurate.
Hugs
ferr

I've used the meter since July 2009. Once or twice a year I get a blood draw at the doctor's at the same time as the finger-stick. So far it has been anything from an exact match to a difference of 0.3, which can happen between any two tests. The machines have had self-QC built in since 2005, and have generally been as reliable as clinic draws. Basically, going on the meter and getting away from the too-frequent clinic visits freed me for work travel, got me back to perfect work attendance, and saved my job.

I've been doing home check since September and it's so much more convenient than going to the hospital. I use the same machine that the anticoag nurse used when I went in to get it checked. Check with your clinic and see if they have any extra machines, that's how I got mine (although my dad is the hospital CEO so that could have had something to do with it ;) I won't know til this summer if I'm a lifer or not (I have FVL but had two other contributors to my clots), but she thought it would be good for me to have the machine while I'm living abroad.

The machines used in the Dr offices are very safe and very accurate if they technician knows how to use it. They are calibrated several times during the day. There might be a .2 difference at most as its a matter of INR using whole blood or blood serium. My clinic uses them on over 2000 patients.

The at home testers are of high quality, too.

So if you are having odd readings, I'd vote for user error.

Hi. I have my own tester and when my insurance company were told i was going to be on Coumadin for life, they were more than willing to pay for it. I had to locate a medical supply company that was in-network with my insurance and that carried the machine. I got mine through Edgepark Medical.

I paid $81 every 3 months for supplies because the test strips that go into the machine are very expensive. But that may go down once my insurance deductible is met for the year.

Edgepark sends me supplies every three months so I never run out. I work with Alere, and send my test results to them through an automated phone system or through email and they share it with my doctor. If my levels are off, I call my doctors office tell them the levels and they advise me on adjusting my Coumadin dose.

The machine I have is the Inratio2, the same one my doctor's office used for testing me each week. So I was already familiar with how it worked. Alere sent a representative from their company to train me on the machine.

For anyone under military TRICARE, it is covered by them:

http://manuals.tricare.osd.mil/DisplayManualFile.aspx?Manual=TP02&Change=136&Type=ASOF&Filename=C8S2_5.PDF&highlight=xml%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fmanuals.tricare.osd.mil%2fPdfHighlighter.aspx%3fDocId%3d40879%26Index%3dD%253a%255cIndex%255cTP02%26HitCount%3d7%26hits%3d1e%2b3d%2ba2%2b125%2b158%2b15a%2b15c%2b

goooooooood

I'm also considering purchasing the Homosense INR test machine and found a kit at Amazon for about $234. It's the whole kit, includes the test strips and lancets, so it's not too bad, I think.

Certainly a lot better than the cost of a clinic visit, plus I think it might give me a bit more peace of mind, you know?

I just received the cost information for the CoaguChek machine that I'm looking at. After insurance, the machine will cost less than $50 plus $23 for every 4 tests (includes test strips & monitoring service). If I lose my insurance (since I'm still unemployed) the cost goes up to $100 for every 6 strips + monitoring. It's definitely worth it for me so I'm going to do it.