Home blood pressure monitoring is not only good for patients, but good for insurance companies, says a new study.
New research reveals home blood pressure monitoring for the treatment and diagnosis of hypertension is both good for consumers and good for health care insurance providers.
Past studies have indicated BP monitoring can be more effective than clinical setting monitoring, but home monitoring tools are often not covered by insurance companies.
The research team developed a new decision-analytical model to do a cost-benefit analysis to determine the long-term return on investment for insurance companies.
"Our results suggest that reimbursement of home BP monitoring is cost beneficial from an insurer's perspective for diagnosing and treating hypertension, states the report's abstract.
"Depending on the insurance plan and age group categories considered, estimated net savings associated with the use of home BP monitoring range from $33 to $166 per member in the first year and from $415 to $1,364 in the long run (10 years). Return on investment ranges from 85 cents to $3.75 per dollar invested in the first year and from $7.50 to $19.34 per dollar invested in the long run," the abstract notes.
The study was published at Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
"The diagnosis-related savings observed in younger individuals can be explained by noting that home blood pressure monitoring has better diagnostic specificity than clinic blood pressure monitoring, which translates into lower costs because of fewer false-positive diagnoses and fewer people entering unnecessary lifelong treatment," the researchers explained.
The findings, said the researchers, provide "strong evidence" for insurance companies to provide home blood pressure monitoring as it will boost health care quality while saving on costs.
The researchers say home self-monitoring is nearly as accurate in diagnosis and is recommended by the American Heart Association.
"In high-prevalence populations (those ages ≥65 years), the impact of home blood pressure monitoring's better specificity is diluted because if most members are hypertensive, there will be more positive diagnoses that are correct in absolute terms regardless of the diagnostic method used."
