Home PT/INR Device Enables Remote Care of Anticoagulated Patients

A novel Bluetooth-enabled home health device helps healthcare providers (HCPs) have greater control over their patient’s coagulation status and Vitamin K Antagonist (VKA) therapy.

The CoaguChek INRange system requires just a single drop of blood from a lancet prick. Within 60 seconds, prothrombin time (PT), along with its derived measures of prothrombin ratio (PR) and international normalized ratio (INR), are presented on the color display. The device also provides on screen trend report functionality, providing both patients and their HCP with an overview of the stability of their INR anticoagulation levels and time in therapeutic range (TTR).

The results and trend reports are clearly displayed in color-coded results and graphs, with up to six patient comments available. The built-in Bluetooth wireless technology transmits the results from the meter to the HCPs, allowing them to keep patients on track and in range, anytime, anywhere. The CoaguChek INRange meter, a product of Roche (Basel, Switzerland), is supplied with the proprietary CoaguChek Softclix lancing device (for single patient use only), and a set of 10 lancets.

“As healthcare systems face continued pressure to deliver improved access to care at a lower cost, increased connectivity between HCPs and patients becomes even more important,” said Roland Diggelmann, COO of Roche. “This innovative technology continues the CoaguChek legacy of setting the standard in coagulation monitoring by providing high quality, convenient care, while optimizing outcomes for patients. This is another proof point towards our aim to position patient self-testing as the standard of care to monitor VKA therapy.”

“In a clinical environment, we need to establish a model of care that empowers patients, helping them to understand their health condition and allowing them to take responsibility of their own health care needs,” said Juan Carlos Souto, MD, of Hospital de Sant Pau (Barcelona, Spain). “The new technology will enable us to access the test results in the clinic’s database, to keep track of the individual patient’s status and to measure the quality of care provided by our clinic.”

Vitamin K antagonists modify blood clotting by reducing the action of vitamin K. They are used as anticoagulants for the prevention of thrombosis, and in pest control, as rodenticides. They work by depleting the active form of the vitamin by inhibiting vitamin K epoxide reductase, recycling inactive vitamin K epoxide back to the active reduced form of vitamin K. Vitamin K is required for the carboxylation of specific glutamic acid residues on prothrombin, which are needed to produce the fibrin monomers that are polymerized to form blood clots.

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