I am thrilled to announce the launch of the first ever mobile INR app for warfarin users that connects patients to the NHS remotely.
Now available on the app store, our INR app enables patients to use their mobile phone or tablet to log their INR reading and send this directly to clinic. Our INR app fits in with the busy lifestyles of those living in a digital world and always on the go. Instead of taking a day from work and travelling into clinic, our INR app offers a convenient alternative. This is helping to bridge the gap between patient expectations in the 21st century and the NHS.
Our INR self-testing service has already been offering choice to patients, with the option of relaying INR readings back to the clinic via automated phone calls, email or SMS. Offering patients the option of communicating via automated phone calls means that older people who may be less confident in using the latest technology can benefit.
Our INR self-testing service is currently live across the UK in regions including Durham, Darlington, Wigan, Ilkley, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire and Hull. At County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, our INR self-testing service has reduced the average number of clinic visits to just twice a year, and increased the amount of time patients spend in therapeutic range.
Our new INR app has been welcomed by the registered charity AntiCoagulation Europe, who recognise that connecting patients to their care team remotely via a mobile app is a huge step forward in enabling digital technology to provide patients with convenient care.
Our patients are also thrilled at being able to use the INR app. Martin Smith, a 59-year-old who founded and runs a successful marketing business, has been taking warfarin for the last six years since suffering a heart attack. Before starting to self-test his INR, he used to visit the warfarin clinic in Ilkley, West Yorkshire every fortnight or month.
He said: “I welcome INR self-testing because it allows me to juggle my work obligations as well as my personal life and also plan our holidays. It just works for me. Self-testing has allowed me to understand how warfarin works and helps me to stay in the ideal therapeutic range to keep myself as fit and healthy as possible. My readings are more consistent. Previously it was a fortnight or a month between clinics and a fair bit can happen in that period. Now I can just test myself and ring the nurse for any advice. This new INR app is really positive for anybody that is still actively working. It is so portable. I can test myself on the train going up and down from London.”
I look forward to seeing the benefits that our INR app can bring to patients and the NHS across the UK.