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FRIDAY, Jan. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — A new home-based care delivery program can provide efficient and effective blood pressure (BP) control in individuals with hypertension, according to a study recently published in Clinical Cardiology<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Naomi D. Fisher, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues developed a remote, navigator-led hypertension program that leveraged an evidence-based clinical algorithm, home BP measurements using a Bluetooth-enabled device, and patient coaching to enable rapid and complete medication titration until home BP was controlled at <135\/85 mm Hg. A prospective pilot cohort consisting of 130 patients (clinic BP \u2265140\/90 mm Hg) was managed by nurse practitioners and pharmacists, with medication titrations performed by phone at biweekly intervals based on weekly average BP.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 81 percent of all enrolled patients achieved the BP goal; they did so in an average of seven weeks. A greater percentage of patients (91 percent) who regularly measured home BP achieved the goal. Rates of BP control were similar across races, genders, and ages.<\/p>\n
“A home-based BP control program run by nonphysicians can provide efficient, effective, and rapid control, suggesting an innovative paradigm for hypertension management,” the authors write.<\/p>\n