TY - JOUR T1 - Realising the potential of home blood pressure monitoring in the community: should HBPM be the default? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 242 LP - 243 DO - 10.3399/bjgp22X719441 VL - 72 IS - 718 AU - Samuel Finnikin AU - James P Sheppard Y1 - 2022/05/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/72/718/242.abstract N2 - Helping control patients’ blood pressure is one of the most important things GPs do to reduce premature mortality and morbidity. Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is increasingly used to achieve this vital primary care task.1 As recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is a renewed focus on identifying patients with undiagnosed hypertension and ensuring that patients with existing hypertension have every opportunity to optimise their blood pressure. Given the increased trend towards remote consulting over the past 18 months, now is an ideal time to ensure that GPs and patients are getting the most out of this simple and effective tool.While ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of hypertension, HBPM may be a reasonable alternative2 and is recommended when ABPM is not available or tolerated.3 It does, however, carry a risk of overdiagnosis.4 HBPM is the most acceptable method of monitoring blood pressure to patients,5 particularly among some minority ethnic groups.6 However, HBPM is not currently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for monitoring patients with hypertension, but there is good evidence of improved blood pressure control when HBPM is combined with co-interventions such as tailored pharmacist or physician support,7 and there are several advantages to patients and practices (Box 1). In practice, HBPM is often more convenient for patients and less resource intensive for practices so is an excellent option for monitoring blood pressure control. … ER -