Top 3 things you need to know about the new Blood Glucose Meters starting 1st Sept 2012

Courtesy of  http://www.caresens.co.nz/page/caresens-meters.aspx 

Oh Pharmac how we love you changing the funding list like we change our undies.

This change, starting 1st of Sept 2012 however, is not at all minor. Based on the fax notification from Pharmac, there will be three new listings for the meters. Here are 3 things you need to know about this change.

(1) LCD back light for testing at night (CareSens N POP, see picture above)

(2) Manual and automatic coding. You know how when you use the Accu-Chek meter you have to insert a new chip into the meter every time you start a new box of test strips? (you should know!) Well, the CareSens II requires you to manually enter in the code every time you open a new box of strips whilst the other two better looking meters do that automatically.

(3) Patients who are already on Accu-Chek meters will continue to be able to receive strips fully funded until 1st March 2013 although it makes sense to start newly diagnosed patients on these new meters.

Wouldn't it be helpful if there was a side by side comparison of those meters? Well, click away!

Bear in mind though that the last meter in that chart (CareSens POP) didn't appear in Pharmac's fax notification as a new listing so I am not sure if that will be one of the options.

UPDATE: Pharmacists can switch people who are on old meters without a prescription. Every pharmacy should've received a prescription look-alike pad named "Pharmacist Claiming of Blood Glucose Diagnostic Test Meters". Process that as you would a prescription and Toniq has assured me that it will adjust it automatically so that no co-payment will come up.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken to ensure this post is free from error, I do not warrant its accuracy as I am not an omnipotent and omniscient make-believe. Oh, and also Pharmac changes its mind faster than I can count to 90 tabs.