Mary Paterson

Telemonitoring based service redesign for the management of uncontrolled hypertension: multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Objective To determine if an intervention consisting of telemonitoring and supervision by usual primary care clinicians of home self measured blood pressure and optional patient decision support leads to clinically important reductions in daytime systolic and diastolic ambulatory blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled blood pressure. Design Multicentre randomised controlled trial. Setting 20 primary care practices in south east Scotland. Participants 401 people aged 29-95 years with uncontrolled blood pressure (mean daytime ambulatory measurement ≥135/85 mm Hg but ≤210/135 mm Hg). Intervention Self measurement and transmission of blood pressure readings to a secure website for review by the attending nurse or doctor and participant, with optional automated patient decision support by text or email for six months. Main outcome measures Blinded assessment of mean daytime systolic ambulatory blood pressure six months after randomisation. Results 200 participants were randomised to the intervention and 201 to usual care; primary outcome data were available for 90% of participants (182 and 177, respectively). The mean difference in daytime systolic ambulatory blood pressure adjusted for baseline and minimisation factors between intervention and usual care was 4.3 mm Hg (95% confidence interval 2.0 to 6.5; P=0.0002) and for daytime diastolic ambulatory blood pressure was 2.3 mm Hg (0.9 to 3.6; P=0.001), with higher values in the usual care group. The intervention was associated with a mean increase of one general practitioner (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 1.6; P=0.0002) and 0.6 (0.1 to 1.0; P=0.01) practice nurse consultations during the course of the study. Conclusions Supported self monitoring by telemonitoring is an effective method for achieving clinically important reductions in blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled hypertension in primary care settings. However, it was associated with increase in use of National Health Service resources. Further research is required to determine if the reduction in blood pressure is maintained in the longer term and if the intervention is cost effective. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN72614272.

Telemonitoring-based service redesign for the management of uncontrolled hypertension (HITS): cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomised controlled trial

Objectives To compare the costs and cost-effectiveness of managing patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) using telemonitoring versus usual care from the perspective of the National Health Service (NHS). Design Within trial post hoc economic evaluation of data from a pragmatic randomised controlled trial using an intention-to-treat approach. Setting 20 socioeconomically diverse general practices in Lothian, Scotland. Participants 401 primary care patients aged 29–95 with uncontrolled daytime ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) (≥135/85, but <210/135 mm Hg). Intervention Participants were centrally randomised to 6 months of a telemonitoring service comprising of self-monitoring of BP transmitted to a secure website for review by the attending nurse/doctor and patient, with optional automated patient decision-support by text/email (n=200) or usual care (n-201). Randomisation was undertaken with minimisation for age, sex, family practice, use of three or more hypertension drugs and self-monitoring history. Main outcome measures Mean difference in total NHS costs between trial arms and blinded assessment of mean cost per 1 mm Hg systolic BP point reduced. Results Home telemonitoring of BP costs significantly more than usual care (mean difference per patient £115.32 (95% CI £83.49 to £146.63; p<0.001)). Increased costs were due to telemonitoring service costs, patient training and additional general practitioner and nurse consultations. The mean cost of systolic BP reduction was £25.56/mm Hg (95% CI £16.06 to £46.89) per patient. Conclusions Over the 6-month trial period, supported telemonitoring was more effective at reducing BP than usual care but also more expensive. If clinical gains are maintained, these additional costs would be very likely to be compensated for by reductions in the cost of future cardiovascular events. Longer-term modelling of costs and outcomes is required to fully examine the cost-effectiveness implications. Trial registration International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN72614272.

Supported Telemonitoring and Glycemic Control in People with Type 2 Diabetes: The Telescot Diabetes Pragmatic Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background Self-monitoring of blood glucose among people with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin does not appear to be effective in improving glycemic control. We investigated whether health professional review of telemetrically transmitted self-monitored glucose results in improved glycemic control in people with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Methods and Findings We performed a randomized, parallel, investigator-blind controlled trial with centralized randomization in family practices in four regions of the United Kingdom among 321 people with type 2 diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) >58 mmol/mol. The supported telemonitoring intervention involved self-measurement and transmission to a secure website of twice-weekly morning and evening glucose for review by family practice clinicians who were not blinded to allocation group. The control group received usual care, with at least annual review and more frequent reviews for people with poor glycemic or blood pressure control. HbA1c assessed at 9 mo was the primary outcome. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed. 160 people were randomized to the intervention group and 161 to the usual care group between June 6, 2011, and July 19, 2013. HbA1c data at follow-up were available for 146 people in the intervention group and 139 people in the control group. The mean (SD) HbA1c at follow-up was 63.0 (15.5) mmol/mol in the intervention group and 67.8 (14.7) mmol/mol in the usual care group. For primary analysis, adjusted mean HbA1c was 5.60 mmol/mol / 0.51% lower (95% CI 2.38 to 8.81 mmol/mol/ 95% CI 0.22% to 0.81%, p = 0·0007). For secondary analyses, adjusted mean ambulatory systolic blood pressure was 3.06 mmHg lower (95% CI 0.56–5.56 mmHg, p = 0.017) and mean ambulatory diastolic blood pressure was 2.17 mmHg lower (95% CI 0.62–3.72, p = 0.006) among people in the intervention group when compared with usual care after adjustment for baseline differences and minimization strata. No significant differences were identified between groups in weight, treatment pattern, adherence to medication, or quality of life in secondary analyses. There were few adverse events and these were equally distributed between the intervention and control groups. In secondary analysis, there was a greater number of telephone calls between practice nurses and patients in the intervention compared with control group (rate ratio 7.50 (95% CI 4.45–12.65, p < 0.0001) but no other significant differences between groups in use of health services were identified between groups. Key limitations include potential lack of representativeness of trial participants, inability to blind participants and health professionals, and uncertainty about the mechanism, the duration of the effect, and the optimal length of the intervention. Conclusions Supported telemonitoring resulted in clinically important improvements in control of glycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes in family practice. Current Controlled Trials, registration number ISRCTN71674628. Trial Registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN 71674628

A systematic review of electronic multi-compartment medication devices with reminder systems for improving adherence to self-administered medications.

Many patients experience difficulties adhering to medication regimes. For people who forget or get confused about medication, there are products to help them such as multi‐compartment medication devices (MMDs). Some of these, known as electronic MMDs (eMMDs), use audible and/or visual signals to prompt the patient when to take medication, dispense medications, give instructions to the patient, and contact a caregiver (mobile Internet or text to a carer) as needed.

Qualitative study of telemonitoring of blood glucose and blood pressure in type 2 diabetes.

Objectives To explore the experiences of patients and professionals taking part in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of blood glucose, blood pressure (BP) and weight telemonitoring in type 2 diabetes supported by primary care, and identify factors facilitating or hindering the effectiveness of the intervention and those likely to influence its potential translation to routine practice. Design Qualitative study adopting an interpretive descriptive approach. Participants 23 patients, 6 nurses and 4 doctors who were participating in a RCT of blood glucose and BP telemonitoring. A maximum variation sample of patients from within the trial based on age, sex and deprivation status of the practice was sought. Setting 12 primary care practices in Scotland and England. Method Data were collected via recorded semistructured interviews. Analysis was inductive with themes presented within an overarching thematic framework. Multiple strategies were employed to ensure that the analysis was credible and trustworthy. Results Telemonitoring of blood glucose, BP and weight by people with type 2 diabetes was feasible. The data generated by telemonitoring supported self-care decisions and medical treatment decisions. Motivation to self-manage diet was increased by telemonitoring of blood glucose, and the ‘benign policing’ aspect of telemonitoring was considered by patients to be important. The convenience of home monitoring was very acceptable to patients although professionals had some concerns about telemonitoring increasing workload and costs. Conclusions Telemonitoring of blood glucose, BP and weight in primary care is a promising way of improving diabetes management which would be highly acceptable to the type of patients who volunteered for this study. Trial registration number ISRCTN71674628; Pre-results.

Are self-reported telemonitored blood pressure readings affected by end digit preference: a prospective cohort study in Scotland

Objective Simple forms of blood pressure (BP) telemonitoring require patients to text readings to central servers creating an opportunity for both entry error and manipulation. We wished to determine if there was an apparent preference for particular end digits and entries which were just below target BPs which might suggest evidence of data manipulation. Design Prospective cohort study Setting 37 socioeconomically diverse primary care practices from South East Scotland. Participants Patients were recruited with hypertension to a telemonitoring service in which patients submitted home BP readings by manually transcribing the measurements into text messages for transmission (‘patient-texted system’). These readings were compared with those from primary care patients with uncontrolled hypertension using a system in which readings were automatically transmitted, eliminating the possibility of manipulation of values (‘automatic-transmission system’). Methods A generalised estimating equations method was used to compare BP readings between the patient-texted and automatic-transmission systems, while taking into account clustering of readings within patients. Results A total of 44 150 BP readings were analysed on 1068 patients using the patient-texted system compared with 20 705 readings on 199 patients using the automatic-transmission system. Compared with the automatic-transmission data, the patient-texted data showed a significantly higher proportion of occurrences of both systolic and diastolic BP having a zero end digit (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7 to 2.6) although incidence was <2% of readings. Similarly, there was a preference for systolic 134 and diastolic 84 (the threshold for alerts was 135/85) (134 systolic BP OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.8; 84 diastolic BP OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.9). Conclusion End-digit preference for zero numbers and specific-value preference for readings just below the alert threshold exist among patients in self-reporting their BP using telemonitoring. However, the proportion of readings affected is small and unlikely to be clinically important. Trial registration number ISRCTN72614272; Post-results.

Implementing telemonitoring in primary care: learning from a large qualitative dataset gathered during a series of studies

BackgroundTelemonitoring for long term conditions such as hypertension and diabetes has not been widely adopted despite evidence of efficacy in trials and policy support. The Telescot programme comprised a series of seven trials and observational studies of telemonitoring for long term conditions in primary care, all with an explanatory qualitative component which had been analysed and published separately. There were changes to the models of care within and between studies and combining datasets would provide a longitudinal view of the evolution of primary care based telemonitoring services that was not available in the individual studies, as well as allowing comparison across the different conditions monitored. We aimed to explore what drove changes to the way telemonitoring was implemented, compare experience of telemonitoring across the range of long term conditions, and identify what issues, in the experience of the participants, need to be considered in implementing new telemonitoring systems.MethodSynthesis and thematic reanalysis of transcribed qualitative interview and focus group data from the Telescot programme adopting an interpretive description approach. All transcribed and coded text was re-read and data relating to the experience of the telemonitoring services, perceptions of future use and strategies for implementation were recoded into one consistent system. This was analysed thematically.ResultsThe combined dataset contained transcribed qualitative interview and focus group data from 181 patients and 109 professionals. Four major themes were identified, using data, empowering patients, adjusting the model of care and system design.ConclusionTelemonitoring was valued by patients who found it empowering and convenient. This, combined with initial professional concern that increased surveillance may create dependency led to the development of a more patient led service. However, despite a number of initial concerns being addressed as the service evolved, primary care professionals identified a number of barriers to widespread routine adoption of telemonitoring, many of which could be addressed by improved system design.

Integrating third-party telehealth records with the general practice electronic medical record system: a solution.

Background The implementation of telemonitoring at scale has been less successful than anticipated, often hindered by clinicians’ perceived increase in workload. One important factor has been the lack of integration of patient generated data (PGD) with the electronic medical record (EMR). Clinicians have had problems accessing PGD on telehealth systems especially in patient consultations in primary care. Objective To design a method to produce a report of PGD that is available to clinicians through their routine EMR system. Method We modelled a system with a use case approach using Unified Modelling Language to enable us to design a method of producing the required report. Anonymised PGD are downloaded from a third-party telehealth system to National Health Service (NHS) systems and linked to the patient record available in the hospital recording system using the patient NHS ID through an interface accessed by healthcare professionals. The telehealth data are then processed into a report using the patient record. This report summarises the readings in graphical and tabular form with an average calculated and with a recommended follow-up suggested if required. The report is then disseminated to general practitioner practices through routine document distribution pathways. Results This addition to the telehealth system is viewed positively by clinicians. It has helped to greatly increase the number of general practices using telemonitoring to manage blood pressure in NHS Lothian.