Pharmacist‐led rapid medication titration for hypertension management by telehealth: A quality improvement initiative

Abstract

Abstract Hypertension guidelines recommend team‐based care for the treatment of high blood pressure (BP). Clinical pharmacists can help patients get to goal BP with rapid medication titration in conjunction with telehealth visits. We conducted a pharmacist‐led home BP monitoring pilot program from June 2020 to September 2021. Forty‐two patients with a SBP ≥140 despite using ≤2 antihypertensive medications were referred for pharmacist telehealth with expedited medication titration to achieve a BP goal <130/80. The mean enrollment SBP/DBP was 155.2 (SD, 15.8)/89.7 (SD, 11.5) mm Hg, and the mean completion SBP/DBP was 132.1 (SD, 10.9)/77.6 (SD, 10). The number of hypertension medications prescribed increased from 1.3 to 1.6 with no instances of falls or hypotension. At completion, 31% of patients had an automated office blood pressure (AOBP) with SBP <130 mm Hg and DBP <80 mm Hg. A pharmacist‐led, home BP monitoring telehealth pilot program helped patients safely achieve BP goals.

Keywords

• pharmacist
• self‐measured blood pressure
• telehealth
• telemonitoring