blood glucose monitors so cheap vs INR monitors?

[gadoty1]

Why can you get a blood glucose monitor basically for free when INR monitors are so expensive? They look to me like they are constructed basically the same but just measure a different part of your blood. Just doesn't make sense that a piece of medical equipment can be marked up so much! That is part of what is wrong with our healthcare system!

 

[Eva]

It can be the medicine that is used to determine the AC is more expensive and still a few companies make it. But, I am sure with time, maybe a decade!!, they will become cheaper.

The first glucose home machine testing was introduced in late 1969 and it cost then about $650 which was almost a whole month salary!

The AC machines, I am not sure sure when they were introduced, but not more than ten years ago!!.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

One Word - Market-size

I'm guessing there are WAY MORE diabetics than patients on anti-coagulation, not to mention that Home Testing is just beginning to be accepted (by the Medical Establishment, i.e. Doctors) in the USA.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Ross]

When glucose meters first came about, they were not cheap. It's an evolution process and as more and more people begin to home test, I suspect the meters will start to come down in price.

Personally, I think it should be mandatory for anyone that has to be on Coumadin for life, to be prescribed a unit from the get go.

 

[Ross]

www.ptinr.com

They should have your test cuvettes. I'm fairly sure the 5 channel has been replaced with 3 channel.

 

[Karlynn]

It would be nice if the home testing machine companies would get enough profit from the strips to really cut the price of the machine. I think this is another reason the glucose meters are so cheap - the company makes the money off the strips. My cardio got her INRatio free - because she uses several strips a day. I use one strip a week. I'm not as profitable as she is.

Mark - you are a very bad boy. I can't imagine the mess I'd be in if I hadn't tested in 3 years. I've been on Coumadin over 17 years and I have no clue as to whether my INR is in-range, low or high.

 

[AgilityDog]

Yeah, if I didn't test every week, I'd have been SOL this weekend, when I hit 6.3! I'd already made an adjustment the previous week, (I had a cold and other issues) and was expecting a drop, but got a rise, instead. Testing regularly helps prevent accidents.

 

[geebee]

Although 3 years is a bit extreme, I do understand trying to find time to test which is why I started self testing. I was traveling all the time for years and finding labs on the road was just awful. Even with written prescriptions, many labs did not want to give results to the patient or they took forever to do the testing. I was testing once every couple of months (and occasionally a bit longer) simply due to lab access.

I agree with Ross that home units should be a part of every surgery that implants a mechanical valve. If that many units were sold, the costs would drop drastically.

 

[Ross]

The reason I didn't get tested was purely financial -- no doctor, not enough to pay for labs, etc.

I've probably been pretty lucky -- now I have two meters, but need cuvettes and tenderlett to do the testing.

I was stable with 7.5 a day, every day, for many years. For most of the time, I'm still doing 7.5.

I will be changing my water intake soon (moving over to alkalinized water, once I can afford the machine) and my INR may change, so I'll be testing weekly until stable.

(BTW: I'm still trying to put together a non-profit for people like me who couldn't/can't afford testing, and that charges a few bucks for people who CAN, but don't have a meter. I'm still working with some of the manufacturers and others to try and make this happen)

BTW - someone sent me a private message but it didn't open - please re-send.

Thanks

Your very lucky nothing happened in all that time! My question is, how do you know you were stable if you weren't testing?

Water isn't going to change your INR, but lack of water will. You'll dehydrate.

If someone sent you a private message, it should still be in your inbox unless you deleted it. Might check it out.

 

[catwoman]

The reason I didn't get tested was purely financial -- no doctor, not enough to pay for labs, etc.

Something to consider:
What would you do for long-term care in the case of a stroke due to a clot caused by a low INR?
When I had a TEE in August 2007, they ran an INR at the hospital. My INR was 2.0 . Because I home-test, I was both concerned and embarrassed that it had dropped that low. I had been taking my usual dosage for a while, without much variation in my INRs. I had gotten complacent and was stretching my INR tests farther and farther apart to save on costs of the ProTime 3 cuvettes.

 

[Ross]

I've been reading the literature about patient self-testing and patient management of dosing, and there are serious questions the medical community asks before putting the responsibility for anticoagulation monitoring into the hands of their patients. For example, do they really understand how to do the self test?, are they able to report any abnormal results to their physicians (or, for that matter, do they understand what's abnormal)? Although the idea is a good one, you have to consider the candidates. (It may also be worth considering, if the clinic isn't too greedy (right), that the test should cost less than $10. If the clinic isn't making much profit, or if insurance would pay for it, why should a patient HAVE TO test his or her own blood).

We have serious questions for the medical community. Seems not too many of them know how to dose the drug properly, which is why most all of us do our own testing and dosing. We see it in here day after day after day. We spend more time getting people straightened around from some of the most inept clinics on earth. There is no reason for them not to be on the same page, but very few of them are. If you can find one that knows what they're doing, you found a diamond in the rough.

I'd suggest for you to take a look at the following website:

www.warfarinfo.com

 

[A New Beginning]

Hello All:

Sorry it has been a while. but i am back.

i for a little bit had dual insurance and my primary paid 100% for my home testing machine. When i called the inr center, they said those on medicare/medicaid can get the same system paid at 100% as well.

those that are looking for a monitoring system, a little birdie told me a lot of the nurses that do home visits their offices have these machines and when they upgrade, they just throw the old ones away. Those looking might want to inquire at a nursing office (doctors office and see if they will share the wealth.

just a little info