Connecting the Omron BP5250 Blood Pressure Cuff to Allie on iOS

Background

Allie features Bluetooth integration with Omron BP5250 blood pressure monitors. This guide provides best practices to ensure seamless transfer of blood pressure data from the blood pressure cuff to the Allie iOS application.

Please note: you must have a care plan set up from your clinical educator in order for your pairing to be successful. 

In order to pair the device, please make sure you have done the following during the installation process, completing all of the following:

• Given Allie access to Bluetooth
• Allowed Notifications from Allie
• Turned Bluetooth ON for your phone

For best results, we recommend making sure that you are using the most recent versions of Allie and that your phone's operating system is up to date. More information on checking your settings/updating Allie can be found here.

You will also need to make sure you see an option for "Blood Pressure" in Allie. If you do not see this option, please check with your technician or Healthcare Provider to make sure that have set you up correctly.

Troubleshooting Steps and Explanations for error messages can be found here.

Pairing Instructions

1. Make sure the cuff is off. Then, open your Allie app, and go to "Settings" at the bottom right corner
2. Select "Connected Devices"
   
3. Then select "Blood Pressure Monitors"
   
4. Select the "Omron BP5250"
   
5. This will take you to Step 1 - Press and hold the transfer or bluetooth button on your device for 3 - 5 seconds, until you see a flashing P on the device screen
   
6. Make sure the BP5250 is near your phone. Then, press and hold the button until you see the flashing "P". This indicates the cuff is in pairing mode
   
7. Once the cuff is in pairing mode, you will likely automatically be brought to to Step 2 in Allie - You should see flashing pairing symbols and are now ready to pair and will see the "BP5250" listed as an Active device near you. (If you are not brought here automatically, tap "Continue" from Step 1)
   
   1. NOTE: Instead of "BP5250", you may instead see text that reads "BLEsmart_" with a string of text. This is not an issue and you can still continue with the pairing process
      
8. In Allie, tap "Start Pairing". You'll see a pop-up Bluetooth pairing request - tap "Pair" to continue
   
9. The BP5250 should soon show 4 zeros, the "OK" icon, and the bluetooth symbol
   
10. Shortly after, Allie will update to show you the "Success" screen. You can tap "Done" to leave pairing mode
    

This will return you to the "Connected Devices" screen and you will now see the "Omron BP5250" in a new "Blood Pressure Monitors" section. You can tap the "Start/Stop" button on the cuff to turn it off now and proceed with your first reading.

Uploading Blood Pressure Readings to Allie

1. When you are ready to take your blood pressure, open Allie and keep it open while you take your blood pressure
2. Wrap the blood pressure cuff around your upper arm above the elbow
3. Press the START/STOP button on the blood pressure monitor
4. The blood pressure cuff will inflate and then deflate. You will see the numbers go up and then back down on the cuff. This process may take up to a minute to complete.
5. When the cuff is finished, it will display your blood pressure and resting heart rate. 
   
6. The reading will then be sent to Allie shortly afterwards (it may take a few seconds to synchronize). You will see an animation indicating "2 Tasks Logged" (for both Blood Pressure and Resting Heart Rate), and the previous Task that was "Due" will no longer be visible. Expand the "tasks complete" section to see your readings
   
7. When you expand the section, you should see your blood pressure and resting heart rate values with a "Bluetooth" symbol (indicating it was sent via Bluetooth), the Stage of the reading, the time it was taken, and a check-mark (indicating that the readings count towards your "Adherence" for the day)
   

The measurement will be available shortly for your healthcare provider. You can turn the cuff off by tapping the Start/Stop button again.

If your reading is outside of the "Normal" range, you will also see a pop-up providing more details about the stage of the reading you've just uploaded. Tap "OK" to close the pop-up.

If you are only expected to take your blood pressure once a day, you will not see any more blood pressure tasks for the day. However, if you take your blood pressure again later (making sure to keep Allie open), the new readings will be added to the "Completed" section. There will not be a check-mark for additional readings.

Additionally, if you take your blood pressure but Allie is not currently open, the measurement may not show up in Allie. To address this, open up Allie and tap the Bluetooth button on the blood pressure cuff. This should send any recently saved readings from the cuff to Allie.

For general troubleshooting, please see here. 

You can also see this section on troubleshooting specific issues with the blood pressure cuff.