Coverage and Billing for Home Prothrombin Time (PT/INR) Monitoring for Home

60 – Coverage and Billing for Home Prothrombin Time (PT/INR) Monitoring for Home Anticoagulation Management (Rev. 1562, Issued: 07-25-08, Effective: 03-19-08, Implementation: 08-25-08) The prothrombin time (PT) test is an in-vitro test to assess coagulation. PT testing and its normalized correlate, the International Normalized Ratio (INR), are the standard measurements for therapeutic effectiveness of warfarin therapy. Warfarin, Coumadin®, and others, are self-administered, oral anticoagulant, or blood thinner, medications that affect a person’s Vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Use of the INR allows physicians to determine the level of anticoagulation in a patient independent of the laboratory reagents used. The INR is the ratio of the patient's prothrombin time compared to the mean prothrombin time for a group of normal individuals.