Point-of-Care Testing of International Normalized Ratios for People on Oral Anticoagulants: A Rapid Qualitative Review

Details

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Project Status:
Completed
Project Line:
Health Technology Review
Project Sub Line:
Summary with Critical Appraisal
Project Number:
RC1334-000

Question

  1. What are the perspectives and experiences of people who take oral anticoagulants, as well as their family and health care providers, on engaging with point-of-care testing to support the management of their INR levels?

Key Message

The opportunity to engage in self-testing can be experienced as simultaneously liberating and constraining. While self-testing may be appreciated as a form of point-of-care testing for international normalized ratio (INR) levels, some people engaged in self-testing were concerned with the limited amount of personalized care they received. People using oral anticoagulants described community pharmacist-led anticoagulation management services (CPAMS) as a convenient way of testing INR levels and learning about their health needs. Community pharmacists felt they were well-situated to provide care through CPAMS, but acknowledged the importance of ongoing training, oversight, and appropriate levels of resourcing.