Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring (SMBP)
As the leading cause of death in the United States, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a high-burden and high-cost disease. Improving hypertension management and control, a significant contributing risk factor to CVD, through effective and economical strategies is an area of focus for public health practitioners, clinicians, policy makers, and chronic disease directors.
Strong scientific evidence shows that self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP), also known as home blood pressure monitoring, plus clinical support helps people with hypertension lower their blood pressure. SMBP is the regular measurement of blood pressure by the patient outside the clinical setting, either at home or elsewhere. SMBP requires the use of a home blood pressure measurement device by the patient to measure blood pressure at different points in time.
SMBP plus clinical support can improve access to care and quality of care for individuals with hypertension while making blood pressure control more convenient and accessible across the population. Clinical support includes regular one-on-one counseling, web-based or telephonic support tools, and educational classes.
Million HeartsĀ® 2022, a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes within five years, has developed several tools and resources to support implementation of SMBP.
To access an implementation guide developed by the National Association of Community Health Centers to help healthcare delivery organizations implement SMBP into practice, click here.
To support efforts to scale and spread the use of self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP), CDC and NACDD commissioned the Department of Health Policy and Management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health to conduct A National Analysis of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring.
The analysis considered three distinct components of coverage for SMBP:
- Coverage of home blood pressure monitors.
- Coverage of clinical supports for SMBP.
- Coverage of remote patient monitoring.
A National Analysis of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring Coverage and Reimbursement contains findings from the national analysis of SMBP coverage and reimbursement policies within selected public and private payers/insurers across the United States.
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The Topline Findings: A National Analysis of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring Coverage and Reimbursement summarizes findings from the national analysis across payers with notes explaining which devices and/or services are covered and for whom.
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Additional resources, including an overview of new CPT codes to cover Self-Measured Blood Pressure, are available through Target: BPTM, a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure. Target: BP helps healthcare organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve BP control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations committed to improving BP control.
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For more information about SMBP Coverage and Reimbursement, contact Julia Schneider (jschneider @ chronicdisease.org) or Susan Svencer (ssvencer @ chronicdisease.org).