A new study led by Kaiser Permanente Colorado in conjunction with the American Heart Association and Microsoft Corp. finds that the use of at-home blood pressure monitors and web-based reporting tools that connect clinicians and patients via the Internet appears to significantly improve patients’ ability to manage their high blood pressure to healthy levels.
The study involved 348 patients with uncontrolled hypertension aged 18-85 years. Participants were randomized into a usual care group, where blood pressure was checked during regular office visits, and a home monitoring group, where a Kaiser Permanente application automatically transferred the home blood pressure readings to Kaiser Permanente’s electronic disease registry.
At six months, patients in the home monitoring group were 50 percent more likely to have their blood pressure controlled to healthy levels compared to the usual care group.
As many as 73 million Americans have high blood pressure, a leading predictor of heart disease.
