Cadence study reports nearly double blood pressure control and inpatient savings of ~$88 per Medicare patient per month
New peer-reviewed analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings evaluates Cadence’s technology-enabled hypertension care model across 10 health systems. In a large, geographically diverse Medicare population, the retrospective study found improved blood pressure control, decreased hospital admissions and reduced inpatient spending.
Key findings:
- $88 lower monthly inpatient costs per patient vs. matched controls, a $1,050 annual inpatient savings
- 89% relative increase in patients achieving guideline-recommended BP goal of <130/80 mmHg (19% → 36%)
- 50 fewer hospital admissions per 1,000 patients per year (27% reduction)
- 90% of patients still measuring vitals at one year
Hypertension affects nearly half of American adults, yet fewer than one in four adults with hypertension have it under control.
In the study, the proportion of patients reaching the guideline-recommended blood pressure goal of less than 130/80 mmHg nearly doubled, rising from 19% to 36% – an 89% relative increase. Over an average of 49 weeks, mean blood pressure also fell from 142/81 mmHg to 134/77 mmHg, an 8/4 mmHg reduction (p<.001). Results were consistent among the 55% of the cohort living in rural or underserved areas of the United States, suggesting a significant role for this care model to improve chronic disease management for patients in these communities.
Cadence patients also had $58 lower total cost of care per patient per month, driven primarily by a statistically significant $88 reduction in monthly inpatient costs. Hospital admissions fell 27%, which correlates to approximately 50 fewer admissions per 1,000 patients per year.
“Hypertension control is one of medicine’s great paradoxes: it’s hard to achieve at scale, yet few interventions offer a bigger return for the health of patients across the entire United States,” said David I. Feldman, MD, MPH, first author of the study and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “These findings show that when patients have consistent support between visits and clinicians can act on timely data, we can meaningfully improve blood pressure control while reducing avoidable hospital use and spending, including for patients in rural and underserved communities.”
The study examined clinical outcomes among 7,256 patients across 17 states and compared costs and utilization for 3,936 enrolled patients with 7,671 propensity-score-matched Medicare controls, using claims data over an average follow-up period of 10 months.
Cadence combines cellular-enabled blood pressure cuffs with its AI-enabled Clinical Intelligence platform and a multidisciplinary clinical team of physicians, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses. Patient readings flow automatically into Cadence’s platform, where supervised AI helps identify risk and prioritize timely action.
More than 73% of patients were taking 16 or more readings per month at 6 months, and approximately 90% were still measuring vitals at one year.
Inpatient savings were driven by fewer hospitalizations related to infection and sepsis (-$23 PPPM; 46% fewer hospitalizations), atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (-$15 PPPM; 64% fewer hospitalizations), and cardiac arrhythmias (-$6 PPPM; 16% fewer hospitalizations). Although outpatient visits and professional services increased, reflecting greater engagement with primary care, total spending declined.
Importantly, cost and utilization reductions were similarly observed in rural and underserved communities, demonstrating that these benefits extended to patients who often face significant barriers to effective hypertension management.
The results demonstrate Cadence’s clinical model at scale and underscore its recent selection for the FDA’s TEMPO pilot for HypertensionOS, prescription software supporting clinician-supervised medication management for Stage 2 hypertension.
"The Impact of a Nationwide Remote Patient Care Hypertension Program on Clinical and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Outcomes" is authored by David I. Feldman, MD MPH (Massachusetts General Hospital and Cadence), Spencer Reynolds, MBA, Theodore Feldman, MD, Randall Curnow, MD MBA, Eve Cunningham, MD MBA (Cadence), and Marat Fudim, MD MHS (Duke University Medical Center and Cadence). The study was reviewed by the Duke University Health System Institutional Review Board.
