• Raytel Cardiac Services (Windsor, Connecticut), a provider of remote pacemaker monitoring and cardiac diagnostic testing, said a study published in the January Annals of Internal Medicine found that heart patients on anticoagulation therapy who self-test their blood levels stay “in range“ and have fewer complications compared to patients who don't self-test. Using a home meter, the self-testing heart valve patients maintained their optimal therapeutic blood levels and had fewer major complications compared to patients following conventional testing methods. Raytel offers in-home self-testing through its anticoagulation blood monitoring service, INR@Home. With INR@Home monitoring system, patients can easily test their INR (international normalization ratio) levels more frequently on a weekly basis in their own home, instead of the traditional appointments every four weeks at a laboratory or clinic. Built-in on-board controls help ensure reliable results on every test. The patient calls in the results to Raytel's 24-hour, toll-free remote monitoring center. The results are plotted on an INR trend report that is transmitted to the physician's office, and Raytel immediately alerts the physician to any INR values found to be out of the prescribed range.