The Long-Term Impact of Telehealth on Hypertension Management: Policy Initiatives, Opportunities, Challenges and Future Direction

Abstract

Telehealth coupled with remote monitoring, SMBP, and digital health platforms has changed the approach in the management of hypertension entirely. This paper shall focus on the long-term outcome of telehealth in the management of hypertension and outline the opportunities and challenges along with evidence derived from systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and pilot studies that illustrate a better improvement in the patient outcome concerning control of blood pressure, adherence to medication, and engagement in the care. Effective outcomes have been found for both pharmacist-led interventions and telemonitoring protocols. However, technological disparities, privacy concerns, and patients' withdrawal from telehealth services continue to be some of the main barriers. Recommendations to enhance hypertension care include equitable policy frameworks, training of providers, and technology advancement such as AI-driven analytics and wearable devices. Future directions include sustaining policy support and continuous evaluation coupled with tailored telehealth interventions for a diverse population ensuring that the telehealth potential that is transformative could be fully actualized in managing hypertension. If telehealth would continue to advance, it would overcome the issues and take up most of the changes happening.