Web can monitor blood pressure

BY TAMMIE SMITH
Media General News Service
Published: June 26, 2008

Patients who checked their blood pressure at home with a pharmacist monitoring those readings over the Internet achieved better blood-pressure control than patients getting traditional care, research shows.

The new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests another option for helping the roughly one in three adults in the United States with high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is called the “silent killer” because people can have it and feel fine. But over time, elevated, uncontrolled blood pressure damages the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.

New technology, including electronic medical records and Web-based disease-management programs, are being looked at to improve care and cut health-care costs.

The study compared Web-based care featuring pharmacist management with routine office care and with home monitoring featuring Web site training but no pharmacist oversight.

“Probably the biggest thing is just having people be involved in their own care,“ said pharmacist Amy Whitaker.

The federally funded study was done by researchers in Seattle. It enrolled 778 participants, following them for a year.