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MONDAY, Aug. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Among adults with uncontrolled blood pressure, fewer cardiovascular events and lower costs were observed at five years with a pharmacist-led telemonitoring program, but the differences were not statistically significant compared with usual care, according to a study published online Aug. 31 in Hypertension<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Karen L. Margolis, M.D., M.P.H., from the HealthPartners Institute in Minneapolis, and colleagues reported cardiovascular events and costs during five years of follow-up for the previously published Hyperlink trial, in which participants were randomly assigned to either a pharmacist-managed telemonitoring intervention (TI) group (228 patients) or a usual care (UC) group (222 patients).<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the incidence rates of the cardiovascular composite end point were 4.4 and 8.6 percent in the TI and UC groups, respectively (odds ratio, 0.49; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.21 to 1.13; P = 0.09). Including coronary revascularizations, the incidence rates of the secondary cardiovascular composite end point were 5.3 and 10.4 percent, respectively (odds ratio, 0.48; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.22 to 1.08; P = 0.08). The difference in events exceeded predictions based on observed blood pressure. Per patient, intervention costs were $1,511. Over five years, the estimated event costs were $758,000 and $1,538,000 in the TI and UC groups, respectively, for a return on investment of 126 percent and about $1,900 net cost savings per patient.<\/p>\n
“The findings were just short of statistical significance,” Margolis said in a statement, “meaning they could have been due to chance. However, we were surprised that the figures on serious cardiovascular events pointed so strongly to a benefit of the telemonitoring intervention.”<\/p>\n
Two authors disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.<\/p>\n
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