Monitoring kits shrink healthcare costs

The American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension this summer plugged home blood-pressure monitoring kits, noting that the self-care diagnostics can save insurance companies money by improving healthcare quality and reducing healthcare costs — both buzz words in the changing healthcare paradigm that places a greater emphasis on preventive health care.

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In the first analysis of its kind, researchers found that for each dollar invested in home monitoring kits, insurance companies could expect a return of 85 cents to $3.75 in the first year. Over 10 years, the return per dollar invested could increase between $7.50 to $19.34.



“Home blood pressure monitors should be reimbursed, widely adopted across America, and integrated into current clinical practice for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension,” said Alejandro Arrieta, the study’s lead author and assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Florida International University in Miami. If so, that would certainly jump-start a category that only generates a repeat purchase every five to seven years.



Researchers found reasons for the savings differed by age groups and whether the monitors were used for treatment or diagnosis. In people 65 years and older, home monitoring saved more when used to track high blood-pressure treatment by helping them avoid future adverse cardiovascular events. In people younger than 65 years, savings were higher in diagnostic use of the monitors with fewer false positive diagnoses and fewer people starting unnecessary treatment.



“By improving the accuracy of their blood-pressure assessment and by monitoring their blood pressures outside the clinic setting, patients help themselves, help their physicians and save money for insurance companies,” Arrieta said.