Tactio Health Group, a Montreal-based company that builds smartphone-connected remote patient monitoring devices, will run a 25-person pilot study with the University of Michigan Health System, studying the effects of pharmacist-led home blood pressure monitoring and medication reminders on people with hypertension.

"This study seeks to put patient collected data into the hands of a healthcare provider who has the ability to act on that data in near-real time," Lorraine Buis, assistant professor in the University's Department of Family Medicine, who will lead the study, said in a statement. "I am excited by the opportunity to connect patients with their care team in a way that has the potential to dramatically change routine clinical practice in primary care. By using the TactioRPM platform to connect patients with their providers, and by better understanding how to meaningfully integrate this technology into a clinical setting, we have the potential to demonstrate the full benefit that mobile health has to offer."

Participants will be given Bluetooth-connected blood pressure monitors and Tactio's TactioRPM mobile app, which will allow them to send data to clinical pharmacists. The pharmacists will intervene as necessary based on the patients' reading and adherence.

Tactio makes software systems that connect to third party biometric data collection devices including activity trackers, body scales, heart rate monitors, glucometers, oximeters, thermometers, and blood pressure monitors. They market the systems to hospitals, pharmacies, researchers, and even insurance plans.

The company has long had an interest in establishing efficacy data for its offerings. It was one of the 10 companies that paid for Happtique's short-lived app certification program. The company also completed a recent pilot of its system at a Quebec assisted living facility, where it was successful enough for the center to continue with the offering after the pilot's completion.

Tactio was also a Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize competitor, although it didn't make it into the finals. Last month, Tactio registered TactioRPM as a Class 1 Medical Device Data System (MDDS) with the FDA.

The University of Michigan trial will begin recruiting immediately and is set to conclude in the first half of 2016.