Evaluating the role of pharmacists and m-Health strategies in the management of hypertension in General Pueyrredon

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Hypertension is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors in Argentina and the cause of a high number of diseases and deaths. Although there is extensive knowledge about effective treatments and preventive strategies, there is a gap that limits the translation of this knowledge on the benefits of the patients, especially of the poorer ones. Almost half of hypertensive patients do not know their condition and most of them are not appropriately controlled. Lack of access to health services due to multiple types of barriers as wellas the lack of patients' adherence to control and treatment are the main problems that explain this gap. The incorporation and integration of the pharmacists to the health system and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have showed highly promising results in the improvement of the management of this condition; however, they are scarcely used in Argentina. In 2018, the Secretariat of Health of the Municipality of General Pueyrredón, Province of Buenos Aires, prompted an innovatingcommunity-program, which incorporates the pharmacists to the municipal health system as well as a virtual platform ("Health MGP", https://saludmgp.rpmplay.com/) and a mobile app targeted to hypertensive patients. Pharmacists' incorporation will improve patients' access to health services, as most people have a pharmacy near their home and they do not need a scheduled turn to assist. Besides, pharmacists will collaborate in patients' follow-up, through blood pressure, counselling and medication use supervision. Thevirtual platform will permit hypertensive patients to be part of a virtual community, in which other hypertensive patients and health professionals participate and through which, the patient can interact with others and be actively involved in the management of the disease. The mobile app will send reminders to hypertensive patients to support their involvement in the program and reinforce adherence to recommendations. We propose a mixed-study to assess the access, acceptability, adoption and impact of this program,and to use this experience as a case study to promote the debate among key stakeholders of the policy and legal fields about the pharmacists' participation in the health system as well as the use of ICTs in the management of NCDs and hypertension. The incorporation of these technologies not only constitutes the future in the management of Chronic Disease but also represents a shift in the paradigm of care. They contribute to the transformation of the health system from one that is essentially reactive to one that isproactive through the active involvement of the patient in the self-management of their disease.