Getting
started...
(hover the mouse over the images to get a magnified full size view)
When you start RAT for the first time you will see
this evaluation screen. Click the "I accept" button. You
can use RAT for 4 months before registering for use. This should
give you enough time to fully evaluate the software.
Across the top is a menu list and a toolbar with three icons to
the left. These are the most commonly used icons. There are six
icons to the right. These are for administration purposes. You will
also see the version number across the top of the RAT window
The next screen shows a starter
menu. There are a vertical list of five icons. Once you are familiar with
these icons you can toggle the tick box at the bottom to prevent it
appearing each time you start RAT.
This icon shows the setup screen that allows you
to set the parameters for RAT
This icon adds a new patient to RAT
This icon searches for an existing patient
This 'magnet' icon lists the patients due for a blood test.
This icon closes this starter menu.
Setup RAT...
Clicking the setup icon will
show this screen.
You will see four tabs across the top. The
first tab is for the conditions that require warfarin. These conditions
all have preset INR ranges and treatment lengths based on UK national
recommendations. You change these if you have clinical reasons. To do so,
if you activate the 'Practice' option and once you have changed any
INR/treatment length, click on the 'Apply' button. The tab has four tabs
across the bottom. The first is the list of DVT and embolism
indications.
The
second is the list of cardiac indications.
The
third is the list of graft indications.
The
fourth is the list of two coagulopathy indications.
The second
tab is the practice parameters. You can add the name of your practice and
names of the clinicians. The practice name becomes the header across the
top of RAT. The clinician names are the options when you add a new patient
to RAT. This list is also used in one of the audit options. The weekly
clinic option is used to streamline review dates for patients. Patient
review dates are aligned to this day in the week.
The
'Display review dates for' is used to populate the 'magnet' icon. The
longer the review period, the longer the display list of patients via the
'magnet' icon. The default is 12 weeks. This should include most patients
on the list as the maximum review period is 12 weeks.
The
'Maximum review length' is for patients will five normal INRs. The maximum
is 12 weeks. The default setting is 10 weeks.
There
are a few options for printing out the recommendations. The default is the
script/A4. It prints out cleanly on the right side of script paper. There
are other options to try out. The tablet selection only allows for
1mg and 3mg tablets. For safety reasons 0.5mg and 5mg are not recommended.
If you only want to use blue tabets, it requires the patients to split the
tablets in half which can be difficult. The tablet colour is for different
countries colour of warfarin tablets.
The
'Print number' is for the number of printouts of dosing recommendations,
The default is 1. Some practices prefer to print out 2 sets of
recommendations. One for the patient and one for the practice.
The
'Password' tab allow you to set a RAT password for each PC. It is not user
specific but does allow for a level of security.
Please note RAT
should only be used by health professionals familiar with
warfarin management
