(HealthDay News) -- Using home blood pressure monitoring and partnering withAfter six months of the intervention, nearly 72 percent of the study volunteers had their high blood pressure under control compared to 45 percent in the group that received usual care. Also, the effects of the intervention persisted even after the intervention ended. Six months later, about 72 percent of the intervention group had their high blood pressure under control compared to 57 percent in the usual care group. a pharmacist for lifestyle advice and medication changes led to better control of hypertension, a new study shows.

"The reason that only about half of people with [high] blood pressure have it under control is that usual care isn't working. We combined two interventions that we thought would be very powerful together -- home monitoring and pharmacist managements -- and this is one system that we've shown works very well for blood pressure control," said senior investigator Dr. Karen Margolis, from the HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research in Minneapolis.

The findings appear in the July 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

High blood pressure affects about 30 percent of U.S. adults, according to background information in the study. Treating and controlling high blood pressure can help prevent cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks. However, only about half of the adults in the United States with high blood pressure have it under control.

Home blood pressure monitoring has shown some success in helping people lower their blood pressure, so the researchers took that a step further and used telemonitoring devices that could send blood pressure readings to a pharmacist who could then adjust that person's blood pressure medication accordingly.

The study included 450 people receiving care at one of eight different clinics. All of the people recruited for the study had high blood pressure that wasn't well controlled.

The patients were randomized to receive either usual care (222 people) or the study intervention, which included blood pressure telemonitoring with pharmacist management.

In the study intervention group, each person received a home blood pressure monitor capable of sending readings to a secure website that a pharmacist monitored. At the start of the study, patients met with the pharmacist for an hour and were taught how to use the machines. They were also given lifestyle advice on lowering their blood pressure.

People in the study intervention group were asked to send at least six blood pressure readings from different times of the day to the pharmacist each week. During the first six months of the study, patients and pharmacists talked by phone every two weeks, until blood pressure was under control for at least six weeks, and then they talked monthly. During months seven to 12 of the study, the calls were reduced to every two months. During the calls, pharmacists reviewed lifestyle changes and emphasized adherence to medications.

http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20130702/pharmacist-guided-home-blood-pressure-monitoring-may-help-patients

MORENO VALLEY: Black chamber 

Pharmacists Endorse H.R. 2375 to Preserve Seniors' Access to Diabetes Testing Supplies and Other Durable Medical Equipment

 (Alexandria, Va.) - With the July 1 scheduled implementation of Medicare's so-called "competitive bidding" and National Mail Order program for diabetes test supplies (DTS) fast approaching, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) is urging lawmakers to support H.R. 2375, recently introduced legislation that would delay the programs until a number of issues can be resolved. H.R. 2375, the Transparency and Accountability in Medicare Bidding Act, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson (R-Penn.) and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), and is co-sponsored by Reps. Lou Barletta (R-Penn.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger (D-Md.)."This legislation is in the best interests of patients, which is why NCPA enthusiastically supports its enactment," said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA. "The National Mail Order program policies Medicare is implementing are penny-wise and pound-foolish because they run the significant risk of contributing to more hospitalizations and costly health care interventions for diabetes patients. In addition, by steering patients away from their longtime community pharmacist, Medicare's changes fly in the face of bipartisan efforts toward better coordinated care models, such as through medical homes and accountable care organizations."The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is preparing to implement cuts that will collectively represent a 72 percent reduction this year in pharmacy reimbursement for diabetes testing supplies. Such unsustainable reductions may force some community pharmacies to stop offering DTS to seniors, which could create access concerns in underserved rural and inner-city areas. In addition, it will force some seniors to switch from higher-quality glucose meters to lower-end models.Moreover, CMS is imposing a senseless ban on same-day, home deliveries by independent community pharmacists to homebound seniors and beneficiaries in assisted living facilities. Starting July 1, Medicare will pay the same amount whether patients access their diabetes testing supplies face-to-face from a local health care provider or through the mail, but the agency's new definition of "mail order" would prohibit community pharmacies from continuing to provide delivery services."Many seniors may experience some disruption as both the providers and the equipment to which they are accustomed may no longer be available to them," Hoey added. "Some beneficiaries have relied on their community pharmacy for decades. There's no justification for banning these trusted providers from furnishing this service to some of Medicare's frailest populations—beneficiaries who are homebound or in assisted living facilities—at no added cost to the government."Recently 43 members of Congress led by U.S. Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) wrote to Medicare to question the prohibition on such deliveries. The new policy "will cause disruption in the care provided to Medicare patients," the lawmakers wrote. "Now that retail and mail order suppliers receive the same level of reimbursements, we believe there is no further reason to prohibit home delivery by retail pharmacies. We ask that you expeditiously consider allowing small retail pharmacies to continue home delivery and not prevent these crucial face-to-face counseling and adherence services from being available to Medicare patients."

- See more at: http://www.pharmacytimes.com/association-news/Pharmacists-Endorse-HR-2375-to-Preserve-Seniors-Access-to-Diabetes-Testing-Supplies-and-Other-Durable-Medical-Equipment#sthash.S01XS4Vq.dpuf