Home monitoring can help lower blood pressure, according to a study by researchers from Kaiser Permanente Colorado in Denver published online this week in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
The home monitoring, which was pharmacist-led and enabled by Heart360, the American Heart Association's web-based tool for tracking heart health, was tested in 10 Kaiser clinics. Nearly 350 patients with blood pressure above the recommended levels participated, and although there were no "statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics" between the tested groups, the home monitoring group, at six months, was significantly closer to reaching their BP goal than a usual care group.
Patients in the home monitoring group using Heart360, a MedPage Today article noted, were able to upload blood pressure data and send it to their health providers. The program also provided patients with educational information and tracking tools.
Home monitoring also has been proven as more useful than usual care for the monitoring of newborns, a study published recently in the Journal of Medical Internet Research determined. After one month of trial with a "Babies at home" group and a regular care group, 94.4 percent of patients who received the Internet-based follow-up had no ED visits, compared with 84.2 percent of patients in the control group who didn't have ED visits.
To learn more:
- read the study abstract
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