It’s National Hypertension Awareness Month. RPM companies and healthcare providers are all aware of the staggering statistics. Over 100M+ adults have hypertension. Only 1 in 5 adults with hypertension have it under control. 500,000 deaths a year are linked to hypertension. An estimated $131-$198 billion in healthcare expenses are related to hypertension.
The clinical research is clear - RPM works
Years of clinical research have demonstrated that RPM is effective. Leading clinical research journals including the AHA’s Hypertension have been clinically demonstrating the role of at-home blood pressure monitoring for decades.
The latest, and potentially largest RPM follow-up study in hypertensive patients also found positive results. Highlights of this study:
- 8 mm Hg decrease in systolic BP within first 3 months of RPM compared to 1 mm Hg decrease in control patients.
- 10 mm Hg decrease in systolic BP within 12 months of RPM.
Researchers noted no meaningful differences in medication and accounted for the potential of white-coat syndrome, leading them to conclude RPM was the significant driver for reducing blood pressure.
Adherence and engagement are critical
We know RPM works. But only if patients are engaged and take enough readings to drive outcomes. And that is the true sticking point of RPM for providers.
What drives patient engagement?
- Identifying the right patients for RPM
- Effective RPM onboarding with patient education
- Sufficient staffing for consistent outreach to patients to encourage readings and engagement
- Easy-to-use cellular devices
- Proactive device management
The right devices can drive RPM business
If your clients are struggling to drive adherence, they may not have the right devices. Or enough staff and the right processes to manage the devices they do have. If you are looking to grow your blood pressure device business, a few questions you may want to ask include:
- How many blood pressure devices are being returned or replaced for quality issues?
- Do our clients complain about rural patients not having cellular service for our current cellular devices?
- Can monitoring nurses easily detect and proactively intervene in routine device issues like low battery?
- Is it easy for clients to order additional devices and quickly get them to patients (in-office or drop ship)?
Devices are the backbone of RPM and yet device issues often derail RPM growth, patient engagement, and patient retention. Many patients with high blood pressure already have non-connected blood pressure devices at home. If their RPM device isn’t easy to use or isn’t providing accurate readings, they will quickly stop using it.
Finding the right blood pressure devices
If your clients are having any of the above device issues, it may be time to shop around for a blood pressure device that can help grow your business, not detract from it.
What should you look for in an RPM blood pressure device? Cellular is almost a given for most practices, but it’s not as simple as finding any cellular device. Other important factors include:
- Multi-network devices. No single network works in every rural area. Every major carrier has dead spots as rural patients will readily attest to. Devices that automatically switch to whatever network has the best coverage will work for the most patients.
- Quality control. True quality control means testing the accuracy of every manufacturing batches of devices. Most device providers don’t do this which means even if most of the blood pressure devices are clinically accurate, certain batches can provide inaccurate readings. And that means a subset of patients will stop taking readings.
- Easy device management. From ordering new devices to drop-shipping and troubleshooting device issues, if blood pressure devices aren’t available and functional when patients need them, you are losing opportunities for new patient growth, engagement, and retention.
Are you blood pressure devices impacting your growth?
Continua Systems offers the widest selection of high-quality, multi-network device options with a complete device operations platform that helps you grow your RPM business. Contact us to learn more.