Editing Prothrombin time (section)

===Guidelines===
International guidelines were published in 2005 to govern home monitoring of oral anticoagulation by the International Self-Monitoring Association for Oral Anticoagulation.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Guidelines for implementation of patient self-testing and patient self-management of oral anticoagulation. International consensus guidelines prepared by International Self-Monitoring Association for Oral Anticoagulation| author=Jack Ansell| journal=International Journal of Cardiology| date=10 March 2005| doi=10.1016/j.ijcard.2003.11.008| pmid=15721497| volume=99| issue=1| pages=37–45}}</ref> The international guidelines study stated, "The consensus agrees that patient self-testing and patient self-management are effective methods of monitoring oral anticoagulation therapy, providing outcomes at least as good as, and possibly better than, those achieved with an anticoagulation clinic. All patients must be appropriately selected and trained. Currently, available self-testing/self-management devices give INR results which are comparable with those obtained in laboratory testing."

Medicare coverage for home testing of INR has been expanded in order to allow more people access to home testing of INR in the US. The release on 19 March 2008 said, "[t]he Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded Medicare coverage for home blood testing of prothrombin time (PT) International Normalized Ratio (INR) to include beneficiaries who are using the drug warfarin, an anticoagulant (blood thinner) medication, for chronic atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism." In addition, "those Medicare beneficiaries and their physicians managing conditions related to chronic atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism will benefit greatly through the use of the home test."<ref>{{cite web | title= Medicare expands coverage for home blood testing of prothrombin time international normalized ratio| publisher= The [[Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services]] | date= 19 March 2008| url= https://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=2987 }}</ref>