Effects of Remote Patient Monitoring Use on Care Outcomes Among Medicare Patients With Hypertension : An Observational Study
Authors' conclusion
Patients in high-RPM practices had improved hypertension care outcomes but increased spending.
Study context
- Population
- Traditional Medicare patients with hypertension192 vs 942 matched practices
- Participants
- 19,978 vs 95,029
- Comparison
- High-RPM practices vs matched low-RPM control practices
- High-RPMn = 19,978
- Low-RPMn = 95,029reference
- Primary endpoint
- Hypertension medication use (fills, adherence, unique medications), outpatient visit use, testing and imaging use, hypertension-related acute care use, total hypertension-related spending
- Follow-up
- Changes from 2019 to 2021
Methodological detailsdifference-in-differences regression (2019 to 2021), Limitations: lacked BP data; residual confounding
- Difference-in-differences regression (2019 to 2021)
- Limitations: lacked BP data; residual confounding
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
High-RPM vs Low-RPMEstimate (95% CI)
Hypertension medication fills
relative increase 3.3%(1.9%–4.8%)
Days' supply
increase 1.6%(0.7%–2.5%)
Unique medications received
increase 1.3%(0.2%–2.4%)
Hypertension-related acute care encounters
difference −9.3%(−20.6% to 2.1%)
Testing use
difference −5.9%(−11.9% to 0.0%)
Primary care physician outpatient visits
increase 7.2%(−0.1% to 14.6%)
High-RPM vs Low-RPMIncrease, $ (95% CI)
Total hypertension-related spending
274($165 to $384)
Original publication
Effects of Remote Patient Monitoring Use on Care Outcomes Among Medicare Patients With Hypertension : An Observational Study. Ann Intern Med. Published 7 November 2023. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it