Gettin off my lazy butt !

[ctyguy]

OK...I've been going to the clinic once a month for 3years now and I've had enough. I want to get into home testing but need to know where to start. I know I need to get a perscription but what am I getting it for ? Can someone give me the hoops I need to jump through to become a home tester ?

 

[Bina]

there was a recent thread with the contact info for the americans.....check this forum for the past week or so.

 

[Duff Man]

and post the link to the thread here when you're done

 

[Protimenow]

You may have some choices. You can get a prescription from your M.D. for an INR Test Machine and for the supplies, or you can go the route that some others here have - and contacted the services that charge an arm and a leg for sending you the machine and reminding you to to your testing (and then THEY inform the doctor of your values), or you can consider buying your own meter and supplies. Some vendors will sell without a prescription - but I can't advise this, because the forum rules may not allow it.

For myself - I've bought my machines from vendors on e-Bay. I've had a doctor friend buy the strips for one of my machines - saving me a fair amount of money; and I've bought the test strips on eBay, and I've had a good experience with the machines and supplies bought both ways. Sure, it would be great to have the insurance pay for all or part of your testing, but if they are unwilling to help, or make you jump through more hoops than you want, etc., it may be worth just considering alternate sources if there are no acceptable options.

With no insurance, I am extremely grateful that I've been able to go the self-testing route, fairly affordably.

 

[ctyguy]

OK...Im going to get on the phone with my insurance in the next day or two and document the steps. My wife works for the school district so we have really great coverage so I suspect my insurance will help me out with some of the costs. Currently I go to a clinic once a month which is fine because I get my results in minutes. What rubs me the wrong way is the $175 a pop cost for the visit. And every 6 months I have to have a "doctors" visit where I speak to the staff doctor for about 5 minutes. He asks how Im doing, gives a listen and sends me on my way. That 3 minute visit turns into a $225 charge to my insurance. I figure if I go home monitoring its easier for me AND I save money for the insurance company. The only question I have is how you keep your home machine calibrated correctly.

 

[Bina]

Scott, there is no more calibrating with the NEW Coaguchek XS.
All quality controls are built in and automatic with each start up. It is foolproof.
Also worthy of mentioning: My monitor and the local hospital lab test have given me identical results.
Good Luck with this, it's worth it.

 

[Protimenow]

As Bina said, there is no calibration required for the CoaguChek XS. What wasn't noted was that the ProTime meters and the InRatio meters are also self-calibrating (the calibration information is built into the strips), and both machines have quality control built into the strips. I use an InRatio - and have used ProTime before getting my InRatio, and really like it. I trust it. I believe it will give me results within a few points of a lab test.

If YOU are stuck paying $175 a month for the visit to an anticoagulation clinic, you should be able to buy your meter for what you would otherwise pay for a few months worth of tests. It makes little sense to enrich these labs when you can be saving money and also be empowered enough to be able to test your INR more frequently and, it can easily be argued, have much better control of your INR than you do with monthly tests.

It appears that you're also capable of managing your warfarin dosage (and if you need help, there are a lot here who can give you guidance and refer you to dosing charts that would help).

Although I went a LONG time between tests a few years ago, I really don't believe that - even if your INR is stable month-to-month - you should test as infrequently as once a month.

Get a meter -- you should have little trouble with the insurance company if you point out the cost of your current testing versus the cost of a meter and strips.

I'd certainly be interested in learning how things go with your insurance company.

 

[catwoman]

Are the $175 and $225 charges your co-pay or what the doctor's office bills insurance, before co-pays and deductibles?

Have you approached your doctor about home-testing? Would your doctor require you to come in periodically for a comparison test between your machine & whatever method his/her office uses?

Here's a recent thread:


http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?37528-Questions

Monitor manufacturers list vendor/suppliers or links at their websites, or will send those to you. The vendors will usually handle all paperwork required from your doctor:
Here's website for Hemosense INRatio:

http://www.hemosense.com/distrib/index.shtml

Here's website for CoaguChek:

http://www.coaguchek.com/com/index.php?target=/en/patients

I could not readily find one for ITC's ProTime unit. Most of us here have either the CoaguChek or INRatio. Either unit is very good.

 

[ctyguy]

those charges are what the insurance is charged. my part is usually $35 for the monthly draw and $90 for the doctors visit. People wonder why insurance costs are out of control ? $225 for a 3 minute conversation and a quick listen !!!

Thanks a bunch for the links, Im going to go through those tonight !

 

[Protimenow]

For $35 a month, after deducting the cost of the meter, I could probably test weekly or more often (test strips are usuallly well below $10 each). If you keep a good record of your testing, dosage and other possibly relevant factors, you shouldn't have an issue dealing with your doctor. As long as (s)he is confident that you're effectively managing your INR, there should be no problem with a doctor comfortably allowing you to do self testing. (OTOH - all you really need to do is accurately test your blood and report it to the doctor. The doctor should be able to advise whether to stay with your current dosage or make small adjustments -- which many of us already do, without the benefit of advice from a doctor or clinic).

Good luck with your insurance.

(BTW: I've used two different models of ProTime, and a CoaguChek S, and my favorite meter so far is the InRatio. There's not a lot of functional difference from the InRatio and the InRatio 2, and you will probably be happy with either one, if that's what you or your insurance decide to get).