24.05.17
Anticoagulation innovation: enabling self-test via a new app
Around 1.25 million[1] anticoagulation patients in the UK can now access the first truly integrated self-care solution – available to 2,700 INRstar NHS locations across the UK with significant potential cost savings for CCGs.
LumiraDx Care Solutions has launched an innovative new product, engage, which delivers seamlessly automated self-care for patients on warfarin therapy. engage enables anticoagulation patients to self-test at home and send their INR details back to their clinic via an app. Dosing schedules are then automatically sent back to the patient. The whole process is fast and simple, providing convenience and freedom as the patient no longer has to undertake regular trips to the clinic but still remains under the supervision and guidance of the care team. In addition, engage reduces clinical risk and saves around £70 of nurse time per patient per year.[2]
The solution has been developed to fully integrate with the company’s market-leading anticoagulation management software, INRstar, and has been successfully piloted at two clinical sites, where it is proving to eliminate data entry errors, improve patient health and reduce the risk of stroke.
For care teams, engage is simple and quick to set up with no additional work involved for the clinic other than recording the patient’s interest and availability in the INRstar patient record, which they register with the patient’s consent and on their behalf (the patient cannot sign up independently of their clinician). Training and education on how to self-test and understand INR is included in the app, as well as links to a dedicated technical support team.
engage interfaces with the Roche Coagucheck and also the latest Roche INRange device to eliminate human error while carrying out supported self-care for anticoagulation.
Pernille Wood, lead practice nurse at Three Spires Medical Practice, said: “engage will make dosing much easier for patients. The engage app has a formal training programme and will offer freedom and flexibility to both patients and healthcare professionals. There will definitely be a cost saving [using engage] and there will be less need to have clinics.”
Clare Gardner, marketing manager at LumiraDx Care Solutions, added: “engage is a game-changing solution for supported self-care. It is so simple and quick to implement for busy care teams and with full patient education and training included in the package, it means the patient’s self-care is fully safe and supported, increasing clinic capacity which can then be diverted to other patients and services.”
LumiraDx Care Solutions is the home of INRstar, the UK’s leading software for anticoagulation management, which is used in over 2,700 locations across the UK.
[1] March 2013 Anticoagulation Europe: "It is estimated that in the UK, there are approximately 1.25 million people currently prescribed oral anticoagulant drugs".
[2] From 2015 to 2016 the Isle of Wight CCG piloted self-testing with 78 out of 288 (27%) warfarin patients at a single practice. The figures below compare the 12 months before the trial started and the first 12 months of the trial. Time saving: On average 1.5 hours were saved per patient per year in clinic time. This results in a saving of between £66 and £78 per patient per year based on the standard cost of £44 per hour for Band 6 and £52 for Band 7 nurse. (Source: PSSRU 2016 Report)