Hypertension health app to be covered by public health insurance

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, August 5, 2022

A smartphone app designed to help people with high blood pressure will be covered by public health insurance from September, after getting the nod from a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry advisory body.

It will be the second health app to be covered by the public medical insurance program.

In the treatment of hypertension, doctors regularly provide guidance on lifestyle changes such as reducing salt intake and exercising. However, it has been a challenge to get some patients to follow the guidance.

The hypertension health app was developed by Tokyo-based start-up CureApp Inc. and will be used by patients based on a doctor’s prescription.

Users can input details about their diet, number of steps taken, and blood pressure level, for example, and receive dietary advice, among other guidance.

Doctors check the entered information, and give the patients advice about every other month. The initial fee is ¥9,700, and ¥8,300 for subsequent consultations.

Under the public health insurance, many patients pay 30% of the expenses, bringing the cost down to ¥2,910 and ¥2,490, respectively.