CES 2023: Blood Pressure Company Expands Focus on RPM [video]

At the recent CES 2023 expo in Las Vegas, OMRON showed that it is making a big play for the remote patient monitoring (RPM) market. The Japanese electronics company heralded its “Going for Zero” mission, with the lofty goal of eliminating heart attacks and strokes. To do this, OMRON is focusing on early detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib) through monitoring programs in the U.S. and abroad.

In the U.K., where the National Health Service (NHS) estimates that about one-third of adults have high blood pressure, OMRON is rolling out Viso. With the new RPM service, users can measure their blood pressure, pulse, and weight at home, sharing this data with their healthcare providers. For patients with chronic diseases, including hypertension, Viso offers a medical interview program along with data sharing. Viso analyzes blood pressure readings, suggests treatment plans to doctors, and sends alerts to physicians should the data indicate an issue.

In the U.S., where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly half of adults have hypertension, OMRON offers VitalSight. Launched in September 2020, the RPM service for people with high blood pressure allows subscribers to monitor their blood pressure at home and share the readings with clinicians. Through OMRON’s Doctor Dashboard, healthcare providers can get notifications should the readings suggest a problem. VitalSight integrates with the clinician’s Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, and OMRON says that they have installed the platform in 48 medical facilities.

The OMRON Connect app picked up an award at CES 2023, taking home a TWICE Picks trophy that recognizes innovation, quality, and the expected impact on the consumer electronics industry. With the app, users can set up a Care Team that can include healthcare professionals, friends, and family members, designating which team members have access to their data. The app syncs with blood pressure monitors and personal EKG devices via Bluetooth, tracking trends and offering insights about one’s blood pressure and overall health metrics.

How well does the OMRON system work? A clinical trial done by Northwestern Medicine in Chicago found that participants who used VitalSight had better blood pressure control than those not on an RPM program. At the start of the study, the non-RPM group had more participants with their blood pressure under control, 39.2% compared to 35.4% in the RPM group. After 9 months, the balance flipped, and 67% of people in the RPM group had their blood pressure under control, compared to 56.6% in the non-RPM group.

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