Pharmacy Blood Pressure Monitoring Kiosks Comparable to Ambulatory Assessment

Results of a peer-reviewed clinical study support the use of pharmacy-based PharmaSmart kiosks in assessing hypertension, as the routine blood pressure testing on the kiosks was deemed comparable to daytime ambulatory blood pressure measurement, the current clinical gold standard.

Published November 19, 2014, in the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension, the study examined the self-measured blood pressures of hypertensive adult patients who used PharmaSmart kiosks located in community pharmacies. The research concluded that the blood pressure measurements taken by the in-pharmacy kiosks were similar to those taken by ambulatory and automated office methods.

“We know that self-measurement of blood pressure is important, and can help patients reach and maintain their target blood pressures. We also know that pharmacists play an important role in helping patients understand their blood pressure and the medication they take to treat it,” said Michael Rakotz, MD, director of population and virtual medicine at Northwestern Medical Group in Evanston, in a press release. “This new evidence using PharmaSmart kiosks is an important new development for patient self-measurement occurring in the communities where people live and work.”

In the press release, Bruce Alpert, MD, a retired professor of pediatrics in the division of cardiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, said, “This new evidence places pharmacies using PharmaSmart kiosks on a strong clinical footing, and will improve the ability of those pharmacies to collaborate with physicians in the management of their patients’ blood pressure.”