Coag-Sense vs. Coaguchek

I have used both the CoagUsense and the CoaguChek in my clinics.  Neither are the easiest thing in my book however, I lean toward the CoaguChek due to the fact it is hand held and can be carried into patient's rooms.  The CoagUsense is more of a stationary instrument that is left in the lab.
For some reason, users have difficulty with getting the blood on the strip.  

We have used both at our medical center. We had the CoaguChek until there were issues with the strips a few years ago and had to switch to CoagSense. Our system validation with the CoagSense showed a problem with correlation to the main lab's instrument at lower values than the CoaguChek had. When Roche resolved the strip issues with CoaguChek, we converted back. We have the CoaguChek XS, not the CoaguChek XS Plus. The XS doesn't require liquid QC (although most of the POCCs in our system would have preferred that it did). It won't give a result if the internal QC on the strip doesn't pass. Our anticoagulation clinic definitely prefers the CoaguChek over the CoagSense. Hope this helps!

Years ago we actually moved from the Coaguchek to the ISTAT. It was one less analyzer to keep up with (I am at a pediatric hospital). We only had a couple of patients that we regularly monitored. Eventually they moved to the adult arena. All testing is now done in the main lab.

That being said, I used the Coaguchek on my mother for years. Her INR was so unstable that the Coumadin clinic arranged for her to have one in her home. The trouble I had was that sometimes the drop of blood seemed to want to go anywhere but the application point. At any rate, I do have concerns about using a pipet with the Coag-sense. That extra step could be an issue. In our world however, every testing platform has its own unique issues. Good luck!

We moved our system to CoagSense. It uses the same thromboplastin as our main lab and the comparisons are much better than Coaguchek.  We went live about 6 months ago in over 30 locations and haven't heard any issues.  Testing is less expensive and compares to main lab better.

Thank you all for your responses - I really appreciate it!