Hi Vicki,

Sorry I missed this when you posted it. Our family has just had two graduations, and yesterday our oldest left for Peru for a two year stint in the Peace Corps. So my life has been a bit hectic!

I have several patients using home INR. From my point of view, there is really no extra work and no extra effort. Several of the local oxygen suppliers are handling these. They train the patient, set things up in their home, and so forth. The patient does a finger stick at least once a week, they use a telephone line to transmit this to Phillips, and Phillips will fax the result through to our office that afternoon.

The local companies, at least for Medicare, require that the patient has been on Coumadin at least three months before they will supply a home unit.

Hope this helps!

Gene

Gene Nallin MD solo family practice with one PA Cumberland, Md