Patient Self-testing

David Garcia, MD, president of Anticoagulation Forum reports the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has drafted a decision to generalize patient home Warfarin monitoring. In-home PT/INR testing reimbursement has been confined to patients with mechanical heart valves. Pending a final ruling this fall, reimbursement will be extended to self-monitoring of Warfarin for atrial fibrillation and deep venous thrombosis. 
This should result in significant resource savings for CMS and Warfarin patients, and contribute to higher percent time within therapeutic range as it encourages more regular monitoring. Roche, Abbott, and ITC are ready to expand their FDA-approved instrumentation for patient self-testing. Geo.