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LONGUEUIL, Quebec — The Jean Coutu Group Inc. has introduced a hypertension monitoring program that enables patients to control their blood pressure in cooperation with both their pharmacist and their physician.
Called Caution Hypertension, the program uses an automated blood pressure measuring device and memory card found in all of Coutu’s more than 350 pharmacies.
A patient’s data on the Caution Hypertension web site is kept confidential among the patient, pharmacist and doctor, enabling them to communicate and consult with one another in a secure manner.
Coutu executives explain that the system’s memory card lets patients save their blood pressure readings and then print the last 10 readings on a paper coupon that can be forwarded to a physician. Patients are given a personal access code that lets them access their blood pressure records on the Caution Hypertension section of the chain’s web site.
They can then print from the readings as well as print tables and graphics to use when consulting with a doctor.
Coutu pharmacists have access to their patients’ readings, which allows them to help patients monitor their blood pressure and to assess the effectiveness of their medication as well.
Vice president of pharmacy and government affairs Richard Mayrand says that as of the middle of October, more than 17,000 people had enrolled in the chain’s Caution Hypertension program.
