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By ANNE-MARIE TOBIN
The Canadian Press

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TORONTO - An automated system that provides information to thrombosis patients who take the blood-thinning medication warfarin to prevent blood clots was just as effective as telephone calls from a human, a new study suggests.

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The Canadian Press

Diane Siteman is shown at her home near Ottawa. She took part in a study that found an automated system that provides information to thrombosis patients who take the blood-thinning medication warfarin to prevent blood clots was just as effective as telephone calls from a human.

The system reduced workload for health workers by one-third, according to results of the study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

And the patients didn't seem to mind getting calls from the automated system, with more than three-quarters of them agreeing to stay on the system after the study had ended, said Dr. Alan Forster, a patient safety expert with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa.

Dianna Siteman, 65, of Navan, Ont., near Ottawa, was one of the patients who participated and she described the automated system as "the greatest thing in the world."

Siteman developed phlebitis in 1966 after her first child was born and has been taking blood-thinners ever since, except for one ill-advised period of time many years ago when she quit taking the medication and ended up having a heart attack.

Being on the automated system "gives you a lot of confidence," she said.