Vol. 1 No. 3 (2021)
Health Technology Reviews

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

Published March 26, 2021

Key Messages

  • 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.