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People with high blood pressure can better control their blood pressure values if they record the data at home and then share it with their doctor or healthcare provider.

Home monitoring gives providers a clearer picture of real blood pressure values, leading to more personalized treatment and better control of hypertension. Combining home reading with traditional doctor care saves money by reducing medications and doctor visits.

These findings were communicated at a scientific session on hypertension, organized by the American Heart Association in 2018. Monitoring blood pressure at home has improved the control of hypertension and reduced medical costs.

The recommendations of the American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology (AHA / ACC) emphasize the importance of monitoring blood pressure at home for optimal control. However, home blood pressure monitoring is not a common component of most treatment plans. Based on trends observed during medical file analyzes in a pilot study, researcher Roy R. Champion said that less than one in five medical providers include monitoring blood pressure at home in documentation for patients with hypertension. During all this time, approximately 86% of patients who used blood pressure monitoring at home had their blood pressure under control.

Home monitoring, combined with visits to the doctor, helps to avoid the distorted number of “white robe hypertension”, ie when blood pressure is elevated in a medical setting, but not in everyday life, and “masked hypertension”. , when blood pressure is normal in a medical setting, but high at home.

Champion studied the impact of an intervention that provided free home blood pressure monitors and online and printed resources to track readings and monitor reminders in 2,550 adult patients with high and uncontrolled blood pressure.

After six months of intervention, almost 80% of participants reached normal blood pressure, using the standards in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). Also, using the 2017 AHA / ACC standards, 72% were able to control their hypertension.

“Even with stricter sets of recommendations, we have shown that monitoring blood pressure at home is vital to achieving normal blood pressure among hypertensive patients,” Champion said.

Each kit, including the monitor, costs an average of $ 38.50; however, the cost savings from the intervention were substantial. The intervention reduced the required office visits by 1.2 visits per participant / year and significantly reduced the costs of emergency services and medicines. Home monitoring helps physicians better understand patients’ daily blood pressure values in an economical way that does not increase the burden on patients or health care providers, Champion said.

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Source here.