Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Colorado, the American Heart Association and Microsoft conducted the study, which was presented last week at AHA’s 11th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.
Study Details
The study involved 348 patients ages 18 through 85 who had uncontrolled high blood pressure. Researchers randomly divided the study participants into a home monitoring group and a usual care group (Millard, Healthcare IT News, 5/21).
The home monitoring patients received a blood pressure device with a USB connection that allowed users to transmit readings to AHA’s Heart 360 website and a Microsoft HealthVault personal health record account (Hobson, “Health Blog,” Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
The system also uploaded the information to Kaiser’s electronic disease registry, which allows clinical pharmacists to monitor readings and consult with patients to adjust their medications (Goedert, Health Data Management, 5/24).
After six months, researchers found that 58% of patients using the monitoring device had lowered their blood pressure to healthy levels, compared with 38% of patients in the control group (Dotinga, HealthDay/BusinessWeek, 5/21).
Study authors said more research would be necessary to confirm the findings (“Health Blog,” Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
