Hypertension | OPRHealth

Hypertension: Tragedy and Opportunities

Hypertension is listed as a primary or secondary cause of over 600,000 deaths each year. Hundreds of thousands are also disabled by strokes linked to hypertension and countless others suffer mounting damage to their internal organs including eyes, kidneys, and blood vessels. Hypertension has been an intractable foe for millions of patients and a frustrating challenge for their doctors. Billions are spent every year on research, patient education, and outreach that have not changed the tragic trajectory of this silent killer as less than one in four patients with high blood pressure have it under control. Patients discouraged by disruptive, time-consuming, and ineffective treatments are voting with their feet. Thirty percent quit before completing diagnostic protocols and fifty percent stop taking their medications after a year. Thankfully, revolutionary technologies and innovations in care delivery are arming doctors with solutions that work and give patients new hope.

24BP Ambulatory Blood Pressure Kit

Make a definitive diagnosis in 24 hours and

engage patients in protecting their health and defeating their hypertension.

ABPM Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring and Clinical Profiling Kit

Quantify contributing causes and verify treatment efficacy in 24-hours.

Technological Innovations in Hypertension Diagnosis, Treatment and Management

Build and expand a dedicated practice that delivers results and compelling patient value.

Find out more!

Innovating to Defeat this Silent Killer

Reducing hypertension has been a core public health objective for decades. Yet, after billions spent on research, education, and drugs, less than one in four of the 116 million hypertensives have their blood pressure under control. Worst of all, research shows that clinicians are failing to engage patients and win their long-term cooperation in diagnosing and treating this deadly disease. High diagnostic and treatment burden and low treatment efficacy contribute to high rates of patient noncompliance as 30% quit diagnostic protocols and about half stop taking their medicines within a year of diagnosis. It’s a tragedy and an unmatched clinical opportunity to serve a market of eighty-five million patients with uncontrolled blood pressure.

The legacy clinical tools and protocols used to diagnose and treat hypertension contribute to low efficacy and high treatment burden. Specifically, modern sphygmomanometers measure and report the same components of blood pressure as their predecessors a century ago: systolic and diastolic pressures, plus heart rate. They are also limited to ineffective single measurements and require patients to return for at least three readings at different times, which are averaged to arrive at a useful blood pressure estimate. It's also known that environmental and psychological factors can increase patient blood pressure, including the act of visiting a medical office, an effect dubbed White Coat Hypertension. For this reason, ambulatory blood pressure profiling based on readings taken every fifteen minutes using a waist-mounted unit to inflate a cuff is considered the gold standard for diagnosing hypertension. The downsides are that these units are still limited to blood pressure and heart rate and the process is uncomfortable and disruptive. Patients frequently quit the diagnostic process before the 24-hour monitoring process is complete.

In 2020, Biobeat introduced a family of innovative cuffless blood pressure sensors, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics technologies that overcame the limitations of legacy blood pressure measuring and profiling technologies. These marvels of modern medical tech measure and report the contributions of blood pressure's underlying factors: cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, and stroke volume. They are game changers because clinicians can identify individual contributions, develop a targeted pharmacological strategy, and quickly evaluate and adjust drug selection and dosage. Critically important to reducing treatment burden and increasing patient compliance is that the entire process takes less than one-tenth the time required by legacy cuff-based technologies. The sensors are so comfortable that patients report forgetting their presence.

Just as important, Biobeat's ambulatory blood pressure profiling technologies are compatible with insurance, diagnostic, and treatment codes. Process and business model innovations developed by OPR help practices reduce costs, develop new revenue models, and increase patient capacity while delivering more compelling and engaging value to patients. Biobeat's dedicated blood pressure products, 24BPM and ABPM, do not require additional practice investments in IT and support technologies, making the transition from legacy technologies operationally and financially sustainable.

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Products and Systems

24BP Blood Pressure Profiling Kit

Ideal tool for evaluating patient blood pressure and conducting an initial hypertension assessment and diagnosis. This inexpensive cuffless blood pressure profiling kit replaces legacy blood pressure evaluations with a gold standard 24-hour blood pressure profile. Patients who are not hypertensive benefit from a definitive assessment and baseline of their blood pressure.

ABPM (Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring)

The definitive cuffless hypertension diagnostic profiling solution. The system captures and trends the components of blood pressure: Systolic and Diastolic pressures, Pulse Rate, Cardiac Output, Systemic Vascular Resistance, and Stroke Volume. ABPM arms clinicians with tools to quickly evaluate pharmacological therapies and guide treatment decisions. It delivers detailed reports ideal for sharing with patients to strengthen engagement and compliance with treatment protocols.

It includes a management console that allows practice leaders to manage staff and patients. Ideal for dedicated hypertension management practices.

Advanced Long-term Hypertension Management

The most advanced, cuffless monitoring solution available. It tracks the most comprehensive set of vitals from any device or system including systolic and diastolic pressures, cardiac output, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance, stroke volume, pulse rate, pulse pressure, pulse rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, breathing rate, body temperature, and one channel EKG. This system is ideal for advanced hypertension and cardiovascular practices that integrate remote patient monitoring services.

It includes an advanced patient management console that can track and prioritize active patients, alarm based on patient deterioration, and allow staff to perform remote checks on demand. This cloud-based system does not require advanced local information technology infrastructure.