Evaluation of pharmacist-led telemedicine medication management for hypertension established patients during COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot study

Aim To evaluate the impact of a telemedicine medication management service in patients with hypertension. Methods Participants were allocated to either a telemedicine service ( N = 173) or usual care (UC) ( N = 179). The primary outcome was blood pressure (BP) reduction from baseline to the 6-month follow-up visit, the proportion of the target BP achievement, overall adherence to prescribed medication as well as a composite of non-fatal stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death. Results At 6 months, BP was controlled in 89.6% ( n = 155) of intervention patients and 78.8% ( n = 141) of UC patients (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.04–1.25, P = 0.006), giving a mean difference of −6.0 (−13.0 to −2.5 mmHg) and −2.0 mmHg (−4.0 to −0.1 mmHg) in SBP and DBP, respectively. 17.9% ( n = 31) of the patients in the intervention group were non-adherent with medications, compared with 29.1% ( n = 52) in the UC group ( P = 0.014). The composite clinical endpoints were reached by 2.9% in the intervention group and 4.5% in the control group with no significant differences (OR = 1.566, 95% CI = 0.528–4.646). Conclusion Telemedicine medication management for hypertension management had led to better BP control and medication adherence improvement than UC during COVID-19 epidemic, resulting in a reduction of overall adverse cardiovascular events occurrence.