Mater Pathology

Warfarin Care Program

For the convenience of regular referring doctors Mater Pathology offers a Warfarin Care Program for their patients.

Application for Warfarin Care Program

Mater Pathology operates its Warfarin Care Program from Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm and can be contacted on telephone 07 3163 8378.

To enrol a patient please read our policy information below, then complete all the details on the enrolment form and fax to 07 3163 3440 with a signed Rule 3 Exception request form. Please also contact Warfarin care to confirm that fax has been received on 07 3163 8378. Please advise your patient that a Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program staff member will contact them after discharge from hospital and that they will receive same day enrolment.

Mater Pathology has dedicated staff who will answer any questions you may have, in order to assist your patients with their Warfarin monitoring, and provides ongoing patient support and education through a dedicated patient support telephone service 07 3163 8378.

Conveniently Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program can bulk bill your patients who visit our community collection centres located throughout Brisbane, Ipswich and the Bayside. For those who physically are unable to visit one our community collection centres Mater Pathology will bulk bill home visits to eligible patients.

Fees

$35 for ambulatory home visit

Enrolment fees: $100 for concessional patient and $200 for non concessional patient.

Enrolment Policy

Our enrolment policy is as follows: Mater Pathology will only accept patients into the Warfarin Care Program if there is regular communication with the patient’s general practitioner. If the patient’s general practitioner does do not regularly refer to Mater Pathology, Mater Pathology has the right to not enrol the patient, or to discontinue the enrolment of the patient.

For patient safety reasons please assess your patients’ eligibility according to our Enrolment Steps and Eligibility Criteria before enrolling them into the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program.

HV Eligibility

To be eligible for a HV patients must be registered by their GP as requiring home care.

Enrolment Steps

  1. Before enrolment, please:
    • assess your patient’s eligibility for the Warfarin Care Program according to the eligibility criteria below
    • provide your patient with adequate dosing instructions and dietary prerequisites for patients taking Warfarin until a member from Mater Pathology’s Warfarin Care Program have notified you and your patient that the enrolment process is complete. Please allow at least one working day
  2. Doctor, nurse, or practice manager must fax the completed enrolment application to the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program to enrol your patient. Please retain this original enrolment application for future reference. Your patient’s eligibility will be assessed and we will notify you if our program is not suitable for your patient. Please also contact Warfarin care to confirm that your fax has been received on 07 3163 8378.

If your patient is in hospital, you must confirm their enrolment is accepted before they are discharged by phoning 07 3163 8378.

The referring doctor must manage the patient’s heparin therapy, including low molecular weight heparin such as Clexane. Heparin therapy (UF or LMWH) should continue until the INR is in the therapeutic range for at least TWO consecutive days. Mater Pathology will not commence enrolments on weekends, public holidays or the day prior to a long weekend. Enrolment days will be limited prior to Easter, Christmas and New Year to allow the safe transfer of your patient onto our program. Enrolment in the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program is dependent upon all parties—doctor, patient, and laboratory—understanding and accepting their roles and responsibilities.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for enrolment in the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program, your patient must:

  • be taking Warfarin
  • have a minimum enrolment period of one month
  • have a general practitioner who regularly refers their patients to Mater Pathology. This includes patients recently discharged from hospital.
  • have a valid contact phone number and mailing address
  • be able to comprehend and record verbal dose instructions (or have a carer who can do so)
  • be able to comply with dose instructions (or have a carer who can comply)
  • be able to attend for testing on scheduled dates, subject to exceptional circumstances
  • not have been discharged from a warfarin care program due to non-compliance
  • not require a narrow target range (less than one unit)
  • not require daily INR levels
  • not require acute care.

Ongoing patient eligibility for the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program

Patients who were eligible on enrolment will become ineligible for the Mater Pathology Warfarin Care Program if they:

  • require a narrow target range
  • require daily INR levels
  • are non-compliant
  • become unable to follow verbal or written dose instructions
  • are abusive to Mater Pathology staff.