The use of home blood pressure-monitoring kits by patients with hypertension has proven to save insurance companies a lot of money by lowering overall healthcare costs and improving the quality of healthcare.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 67 million American adults have high blood pressure, yet only approximately half of these people are taking steps to keep their condition under control. It’s important that blood pressure be regularly monitored, even in those with no symptoms, as high blood pressure often does not show any outward signs.

The researchers of the study, which is published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension, found that insurance firms realized a return of $0.85 to $3.75 for each dollar invested in home monitoring kits within the first year. The return increases over 10 years to $7.50 to $19.34 for every dollar invested.

The net savings for members of insurance plans with home blood pressure-monitoring kits ranged from $33 to $166 within the first year, and up to $415 to $1,364 over 10 years. Such savings are dependant on the type of insurance plan and age-group of the members.

Lead study author Alejandro Arrieta, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Florida International University in Miami, is enthusiastic about the use of these home blood pressure-monitoring kits in helping to identify medical emergencies early on.

“Home blood pressure monitors should be reimbursed, widely adopted across America and integrated into current clinical practice for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Our study provides evidence that reimbursement makes business sense for an insurance company,” said Arrieta in a statement.