LAKE FOREST, Ill., Jan. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OMRON Healthcare, Inc., the global leader in remote blood pressure monitoring and personal heart health technology, is unveiling its first remote patient monitoring service at CES 2021, along with new digital health tools to boost patient-to-physician communication and empower more active management of hypertension. With these new innovations, OMRON – which in the last three years has introduced the first wearable blood pressure monitor and the first blood pressure monitor with built-in EKG – is continuing to transform the global heart health marketplace and advance the company's mission of Going for Zero™ heart attacks and strokes.
"We've applied over 40 years of category leadership, research, development, consumer feedback, and physician insights to the innovations OMRON has introduced here at CES that have redefined what a blood pressure monitor can do and how it can function. As we focus on our Going for Zero mission, we're seeking to help those struggling to manage hypertension and its risks, especially with comorbidities and complications associated with this COVID-19 pandemic," said Ranndy Kellogg, president and CEO of OMRON Healthcare.
"VitalSight™, our first remote patient monitoring service, and our new OMRON Connect 2.0 app are designed to give consumers more power in managing their hypertension, give physicians more insights to evolve treatment, and to strengthen the patient-physician relationship via remote monitoring," said Kellogg.
VitalSight, a First from OMRON Healthcare
According to the American Heart Association national blood pressure guidelines, 116 million U.S. adults are in the hypertensive range1 and the CDC reports that 37 million of them have uncontrolled Stage 2 hypertension2 with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. For those at the higher end of the hypertension scale, that risk is even higher during the pandemic as the health care system is overwhelmed in some areas and hypertension is an underlying health condition carrying greater risk of complications from COVID-193.
"OMRON created VitalSight specifically for hypertension management. This new service is designed to encourage more remote monitoring, more communication between the patient and the physician, and more data to make treatment decisions and improve health outcomes," said Jeffrey Ray, OMRON's executive director of business and technology.
VitalSight is an easy-to-use service that a physician can offer to patients with high risk levels of hypertension. Patients receive a kit delivered to their home that includes an OMRON connected blood pressure monitor and data hub that are pre-set to securely share measurements with the patient's physician and care team.
VitalSight can be integrated with the clinician's Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system or through the OMRON Doctor Dashboard for easy data analysis, which provides automatic notifications to signal when a patient has readings that require action to be taken.
"We believe that more data is better, and that taking the right action on the right data can improve outcomes. VitalSight encourages the patient to monitor more and automatically send that data to their physician. The service flags trends and changes in data and calls the attention of the care team to urgent data points. That can really make a difference in focusing the patient-doctor dialogue on priority areas for treatment," said Ray.
Ray noted that, while OMRON has worked to develop VitalSight for some time, the urgency for the service is even higher given the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. With many health systems overwhelmed or cancelling appointments, hypertensive patients may be failing to keep up with their routine check-ups. Recent reports have shown that heart attack death rates have more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic4 with fewer patients going to the hospital when they're experiencing symptoms.
"The need was already great. Now, it's even more urgent. OMRON is partnering with the most forward-thinking health systems and independent physicians in the country, including Mount Sinai in New York and Northwestern Medicine in Chicago," said Ray. "Early feedback shows that VitalSight is quickly helping doctors improve engagement with patients on their treatment plans to manage hypertension."
OMRON is collaborating with Dr. Stephen Persell, director of the center for Primary Care Innovation in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, to rollout VitalSight to hypertensive patients. "Physicians have long recommended regular home blood pressure monitoring for hypertensive patients. VitalSight offers new advantages by integrating that data from the patient into the health system's electronic medical record which should make it easier for the care team to read and make decisions based on it. Medicare's reimbursement of remote physiologic monitoring is another advantage of the service. Since patients don't have to manually record and send or bring their data to the office, it should be easier for a patient to use and make it a routine," said Dr. Persell.
Boosting Patient-to-Physician Communication
OMRON executives are also previewing the new OMRON Connect 2.0 mobile app at CES, which will sync with every connected blood pressure monitor from the brand and will serve as a personal heart health coach with expanded insights based on blood pressure readings and incentives for heart-healthy behavior change.
"OMRON Connect 2.0 delivers heart health insights and helps users understand what their data means, so they can make changes for better heart health. That level of personalization is a motivator to participate in regular monitoring, and to change behavior. That's what the pairing of our connected blood pressure monitors with the OMRON Connect 2.0 app is designed to accomplish and we wanted to make those valuable insights available to all OMRON connected blood pressure users," said Carol Lucarelli, OMRON director of marketing and ecommerce.
Current OMRON apps, HeartAdvisor™ and OMRON Connect, will merge into OMRON Connect 2.0 which will represent a range of features from the current apps, vastly increasing the value of every OMRON connected blood pressure monitor. All OMRON connected devices, including HeartGuide™, Complete™ and OMRON's recently redesigned line of blood pressure monitors, will pair with OMRON Connect 2.0.
"OMRON saved my life," said Frederick Goodall, founder of MochaManStyle.com. "These blood pressure monitors have become part of my daily routine and I now use Complete to monitor my recently-diagnosed AFib. These innovations have helped me manage my condition and understand what my numbers mean, which has motivated me to take action for my heart health."
This new intuitive app is designed to foster patient-doctor dialogue, advance heart health education, and provide personalized insights based on daily activities and lifestyle. Users can securely store their data, track it over time, and share it with a doctor. OMRON Connect 2.0 will include an option for users to sync data with the Apple Health and Google Fit platforms to integrate reports on heart health, activity levels and sleep quality.
OMRON Connect 2.0 will be available to download on the Apple iTunes and Google Play stores in Spring 2021.
Transforming the Heart Health Marketplace
Over the last three years, OMRON has introduced groundbreaking innovations that have reshaped what a blood pressure monitor can do, giving patients the tools they need to get a complete picture of their heart health at home, including HeartGuide (the first wearable blood pressure monitor), Complete (the first blood pressure monitor with EKG capability in a single device), and new digital health tools.
Since its launch in 2019, HeartGuide by OMRON has received accolades from around the world as an innovation that has transformed the heart health marketplace. Industry, consumer, and physician feedback to OMRON also shows that Complete is giving consumers the power to track irregular heartbeat at home, a notoriously difficult condition to monitor.
"Self-care has become a real health practice. OMRON helped make it mainstream," said Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, renowned health economist, advisor and writer of the Health Populi blog. "Now, with VitalSight, in addition to these heart health innovations, more tools are available for home use. Consumers can take greater control and prevent health emergencies. Physicians have more data to make progress with patients, which is rewarding for them, too. It's a win-win."
Kellogg emphasized, "Going for Zero is our corporate mission to eliminate heart attack and stroke. It's at the heart of everything we do, every announcement we make, every partnership we form, and every product we develop. We invite all who believe in this mission to take the pledge and join us."
To learn more about OMRON Healthcare, the company's Going for Zero mission and its new innovations, please visit the OMRON team virtually at CES 2021 from January 11-14, 2021, and follow OMRON Healthcare on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About OMRON Healthcare, Inc.
OMRON Healthcare, Inc., is the global leader in remote blood pressure monitoring and personal heart health technology. Its market-leading products include a full-range of home blood pressure monitors, respiratory care products and TENS devices. Since OMRON invented its first blood pressure monitors more than 40 years ago, the company has been passionate about empowering people to take charge of their health at home through precise technology. OMRON is the number one doctor and pharmacist recommended brand of blood pressure monitors for home use. The company's mission is Going for Zero, the elimination of heart attacks and strokes. For more information, visit OmronHealthcare.com.
1 American Heart Association: Is high blood pressure inevitable? Here's how to keep it in check
2 CDC: Blood Pressure Facts
3 American Heart Association: COVID-19 Newsroom
4 Healthline: Why the Heart Attack Death Rate Has Doubled During COVID-19
SOURCE OMRON Healthcare, Inc.
