Report Highlights Hypertension Solutions Focused on Medication Management
An analysis from the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI) has found that digital hypertension solutions focused on medication management deliver rapid and clinically meaningful improvements in blood pressure that outperform usual care. The study found, however, that other digital approaches to hypertension management are less effective and do not provide clinically meaningful improvements, including solutions that transmit home monitoring data to providers and solutions that focus on patient behavior change.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States and costs an estimated $131 billion annually.
In terms of healthcare costs, all digital hypertension management solutions increase spending in the short-term compared with usual care, the study found. However, solutions that focus on medication management are expected to produce long-term net savings from improved cardiovascular health that reduces the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death. These long-term clinical benefits have the potential, over a decade, to offset upfront spending on the digital solutions.
The report supports broader adoption of those digital hypertension solutions that focus on medication management by combining connected blood pressure cuffs with virtual care teams that help manage prescribing and dosing. Companies offering these types of solutions include Cadence, Ochsner Digital Medicine, and Story Health, although PHTI said that Story Health has not produced independent evidence about its blood pressure improvements.
“Too many people are living with uncontrolled hypertension, but there are effective digital solutions to help patients improve their cardiovascular health, save lives, and lower spending over the long run,” said Caroline Pearson, executive director of PHTI, in a statement. “Digital medication management solutions support healthcare providers with virtual teams to monitor blood pressure and adjust medications to help bring patients into control within months rather than years.”
PHTI assessed clinical and economic evidence on digital hypertension management solutions across three categories:
1. Blood pressure monitoring solutions that extend existing hypertension care beyond the clinical office by supporting patients’ home monitoring and delivering data back to the healthcare provider;
2. Medication management solutions that employ dedicated, virtual care teams to coordinate patients’ medication adjustments as a supplement to the patients’ main primary care team; and
3. Behavior change solutions that deliver educational content, alerts, reminders, and virtual interactions with coaches (digital or human) or care teams to improve patients’ self-management of their hypertension.
PHTI evaluated digital hypertension management solutions from public, private, and nonprofit companies, including AMC Health, Cadence, DarioHealth, Hello Heart, Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), Lark, Ochsner Digital Medicine, Omada Health, Story Health, Teladoc Health (Livongo), and VitalSight (Omron Healthcare).
All solutions evaluated are made available to patients or care teams by a health plan, employer, or provider. Solutions use a mix of connected blood pressure cuffs, smartphone apps that sync patient data, AI-powered trend analysis, on-demand interactions with health experts, and educational content.
Based on the evidence in the report, digital medication management solutions for hypertension warrant broader adoption, PHTI said. Purchasers should consider long-term health outcomes and subsequent cost savings in decisions to cover digital hypertension solutions, according to the report.
PHTI’s analysis is based on its independent assessment framework, which considers digital health management solutions’ clinical benefits and economic impact, as well as effects on health equity. For this report, PHTI reviewed 2,498 articles, including 31 submitted by companies with solutions included in the analysis. PHTI partnered with clinical advisors and experts in health technology, health economics, cardiology, and endocrinology to conduct its evaluation. Additionally, hypertension patients who had used digital health solutions were interviewed to determine the solutions’ impact on user experience.
