A study conducted by Stanford Medical found that hypertension patients who shifted from in-person care to virtual visits during the height of the pandemic were better able to manage their blood pressure.
More than three-quarters of hypertension patients who accessed a virtual care platform during the height of the pandemic saw an improvement in blood pressure management, according to a study recently published in a Mayo Clinic journal.
The study, conducted by Stanford Medicine’s Shriram Nallamshetty, MD, and researchers from San Francisco-based Included Health, focused on roughly 570 patients who switched from in-person visits to video visits offered by Included Health between March 2020 and February 2021. It found that 438 patients, or 77% of the group, saw improvements in their blood pressure readings, with a majority seeing improvements of more than 10%.
“With recent reports that rates of adequately controlling hypertension in the US have declined over the last decade, virtual care has demonstrated to be an effective model to provide improved hypertension care,” Nallamshetty, who co-authored the study, published in this month’s Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, said in a press release. “For chronic conditions like hypertension, we must consider the impact of the virtual care model in raising the standards of care for all patients.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 47 percent of American adults are diagnosed with hypertension, and yet only one in four have their blood pressure under control. Both of those numbers have risen significantly during the pandemic, which has kept patients from accessing in-person care and caused more to become less vigilant in managing their blood pressure.
Healthcare organizations and digital health advocates are pointing to studies like the Stanford research that indicate virtual care can take the place of in-person care when needed, and can even improve care management by allowing patients and their care providers to connect and collaborate more frequently and conveniently.
Through a virtual platform, patients can also access other care management resources, and providers can support treatment by emphasizing the value of diet and exercise in hypertension management.
“The results of this study suggest that a holistic approach to hypertension management, attending to lifestyle changes and appropriate medications, is effective through virtual video primary care visits nationwide,” the study concluded. “We did not find notable differences between patients in terms of rural or metro location, sex, ethnicity, or other factors, other than adherence to therapy.”
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation at HealthLeaders.