Home + pharmacist BP telemonitoring found successful

Given the "consistent and substantial" evidence obtained in this and other studies, it is clear that moving hypertension care out of the office and into patients’ homes is safe and effective, said Dr. David J. Magid and Dr. Beverly B. Green.

Yet home-based HT management has not been widely adopted in the United States and isn’t likely to be, unless the current system of reimbursement and performance measurement is changed. Medical insurance must cover patients’ costs for BP telemonitors and reimburse providers for their related services. And home BP must be included in quality assurance assessments of HT care.

"If home BP monitoring and team-based care were implemented broadly, hypertension management would be easier for patients, and the magnitude of BP reductions ... could lead to substantial reductions in cardiovascular events and mortality," they said.

Dr. Magid is at Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research, Denver. Dr. Green is at Group Health Research Institute at the University of Washington, Seattle. They reported no financial conflicts of interest. These remarks were taken from their editorial accompanying Dr. Margolis’s report (JAMA 2013;310:40-1).