If you love the freedom of wireless technology, and you monitor your blood pressure frequently, you might want to check out one of the many blood pressure monitors coming on the market that can capture your readings easily, quickly and accurately then send the data to monitoring devices, your home computer or to your doctor using phone lines, cell phones or the Internet thanks to Bluetooth technology. These devices can also store your readings, which is helpful if the device you’re using to transmit the report to your doctor is turned off or out of range, or if you want to print or email the data later on. There is even a blood pressure monitoring system, complete with cuff, for your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

Wireless blood pressure monitors have actually been in use for a few years. Back in 2010, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine participated in a pilot program, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Aging. The program was prompted by earlier research which showed that these devices actually help people to better manage their blood pressure, in part because they can see a graphic chart of their readings over virtually any specified range at the press of a button.

Doctors on the receiving end of this information – which is generally considered more accurate than manual measurements – may transfer it directly into your record on the computer.

By next year, international consulting and marketing firm Global Partners Inc. has projected that 60 million people will benefit from using tools like remote patient monitoring devices to prolong and improve their health.