Scotland’s pioneering remote health initiative for hypertension management has reached a major milestone, with 100,000 patients now using the system – making it one of the largest programmes of its kind globally.
Connect Me, powered by Inhealthcare, has empowered patients to take control of their blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes while easing the burden on the NHS.
It is estimated the programme has saved more than 400,000 face-to-face appointments.
High blood pressure affects an estimated 1.3 million Scots and is the leading preventable risk factor for heart and circulatory disease, associated with around half of all strokes and heart attacks.
Connect Me enables primary care patients to share their blood pressure readings with healthcare professionals without attending GP appointments and promotes self-management to help control the condition.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Connect Me is another example of how we’re embracing technology to help tackle the challenges facing health and social care.
“It’s extremely encouraging to see that over 100,000 patients have benefitted from the platform to date saving an estimated 400,000 appointments.
“I would encourage health boards to increase the roll out of Connect Me and for people who have hypertension to ask their GPs if they might be eligible for the programme.
“By empowering patients to take control of their wellbeing we are not only improving health outcomes but also significantly reducing pressure on primary care services.”
Research shows patients using remote monitoring achieved and maintained optimal blood pressure levels much faster compared to those seeing doctors just once or twice yearly.
The programme allows clinicians to monitor patient trends and change medication as required, whether levels improve from healthy habits or start increasing over time.
Building on its success, Connect Me is expanding the blood pressure pathway into secondary care to help patients attending clinics for dietary problems, heart failure, hypertension, kidney disease, and strokes.
Patients will provide blood pressure readings alongside other measurements like heart rate, oxygen levels, and weight according to their clinical needs.
Inhealthcare’s technology offers patients choices for sharing readings, including mobile app, web browser, text message, or automated call.
Natalie Duffield, Inhealthcare’s sales and marketing director, said: “Connect Me showcases how digital healthcare can transform the patient experience and clinical outcomes.
“We’re proud to partner with Scotland on this pioneering initiative and look forward to continued innovation.”
The Connect Me programme was named as digital service transformation winner at the Holyrood Digital Health and Care Awards earlier this year.
Inhealthcare announced in 2022 it was the successful bidder for the NHS Scotland contract to support the scaling up and mainstreaming of remote patient monitoring services across Scotland.