A telemonitoring program to control high blood pressure helped cut cardiovascular events by half, a new study shows.
The study, published in the journal Hypertension, examined data from 450 people with uncontrolled high blood pressure across 16 clinics in Minnesota. Participants were divided into two groups — 288 patients were enrolled in a pharmacist-led telemonitoring program and 22 patients received standard care via in-person office visits.
The telemonitoring program included use of at-home monitors and phone conversations with pharmacists who guided their care.
After five years, 5.3 percent of the telemonitoring program group had heart attacks, strokes, stent placements or heart failure hospitalizations, compared to 10.4 percent of the group that received standard care.