A Pilot Project to Implement a Pharmacist-Managed Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring Service.

Background

Clinicians often hesitate to adjust antihypertensive medications based solely on clinic blood pressure (BP) readings. Limitations to obtaining home readings include access to sphygmomanometers and ability to provide accurate, reliable readings upon follow-up.

Objective

This study examined whether an online platform linked to remote BP monitoring improved BP management and facilitated effective clinical interventions by pharmacists.

Methods

Thirty patients with uncontrolled hypertension were enrolled and provided a remote BP monitor for home use. BP data downloaded to an online platform were monitored by two clinic pharmacists. Daily BP checks were requested (up to twice daily), and pharmacists called patients approximately weekly for 6 months. Through approved protocols, pharmacists individualized interventions to improve patient care. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic and clinical data.

Results

The average systolic BP reduction was 39 mmHg (IQR = 17-52.5) for the 21 patients included in analysis. A target BP <140/<90 was achieved by 67%, and 76% had improved BP control. Patients utilized the cuff 2-4 times (n = 10) or >5 times weekly (n = 11). Through 261 patient contact attempts, the pharmacists requested more BP checks (n = 62), changed medications (n = 57), or provided non-pharmacologic counseling (n = 24) most often. Medication changes commonly included dose increases (n = 35) and additional agents (n = 17) for BP control. Spironolactone (n = 5) and thiazide diuretics (n = 5) were the most added medications.

Conclusions

Most patients were willing to check their BP when provided with devices. The majority achieved a clinically significant decrease in home BP readings, demonstrating that pharmacist-driven home-monitoring programs can improve the optimization of hypertension regimens.