But we can't afford a system right now...

8/21/2009 - The economy has put any purchase under intense scrutiny these days. Here are some reasons why pursuing an electronic anticoagulation management system is still a great investment.

1) Efficiency - You have probably already felt the effects of layoffs or redeployment of support staff, putting lots of pressure on you and your staff who are left to manage the coumadin patients. A software system can reduce a lot of non-value added time looking for patient information (recent INRs, next visit date, physician contact info, etc), finding files and reports, and forgetting to contact a patient before the end of the day. In addition, any time you spend calculating metrics (time in range %, number of monthly visits, etc) can be reduced to less than a minute.

2) Monthly Cost - We have a payment structure that allows you to pay monthly for our service, based upon how many active patients you have. You can review our pricing structure here. With no upfront costs, and low monthly payments (as low as $50 per month), it is easy to get approval for the system, which will allow you to get up and running with a new system without the bureaucratic delays of getting senior-level approval.

3) Overall Cost - As healthcare goes through a major reform in government, what seems to be clear is that the cost is too high, not everyone is getting the benefits they need, and prevention is not stressed nearly enough (nor is it rewarded properly). Since anticoagulation management is considered preventative, it will only be a matter of time before the financial incentives align properly with these preventative services, which will reduce the overall healthcare costs of bleeding incidents, ER visits and adverse events.

4) Patient Quality - An electronic system will remind you when the patient has missed a visit, when a patient has not been contacted yet, and provide trending metrics for the entire clinic (to drive continuous improvement). Our system even shows a trending chart with control limits, to highlight abnormal results, which may signify unique problems with the patient compliance for that INR value. Bottom line: an electronic system allows you to provide better patient care, which prevents patients from having adverse events.

Even in the worst economic conditions, there is always a strong justification for making your process more efficient and higher in patient safety and quality. INR Pro, along with many other software providers, are always great investments for your anticoagulation clinic.

If you would like to take advantage of these features with INR Pro, try our demo, or contact us for more information