A pilot study of electronic blood pressure interpretation of home blood pressure readings in primary care.

Background: Home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is an acceptable method with high accuracy and acceptability amongst patients. It has the potential to save many hours of clinical time and is less likely to suffer from white coat bias. However, it can raise anxiety in patients who may not interpret readings immediately.

Aim: A pilot study using an auto formatted excel spreadsheet which gave instantaneous colour coded feedback was sent to patients to assess its acceptability.

Method: This auto interpretation tool was sent to patients with their consent. It enabled patients to receive immediate feedback about this blood pressure control. A follow-up questionnaire was later sent to ask the patients and the staff about their experience.

Results: Hypertensive patients under 75 years of age who were sending regular home BP readings were enrolled ( 96); of these, 31 responded within 1 month. Patient satisfaction was high; 74% preferred the electronic tool, 77% found the colour indicator reassuring, and 87% wanted to continue the electronic interpretation tool regardless of their initial preference. Staff satisfaction was excellent at 100%.

Conclusion: This hypertension triage tool allows for interpretation by patients and non-clinicians with benefits of instantaneous reassurance, user and provider satisfaction all at reduced costs. Patients without MS Excel could not use this tool. The pilot study reinforced our hypothesis that such a modality has the potential to increase patient satisfaction and safety, and can be applied to a larger number of patients. Eventually an NHS app could be developed and rolled out for the large population.