Post-Emergency Department Discharge Clinic Telehealth Program for Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension

Lama Ghazi, M.D., Ph.D. 
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Adults, specifically those living in the southeast US, minority populations and those with no insurance, have high rates of high blood pressure, or hypertension. Adults who do not have a primary care physician or access to healthcare might use the Emergency Department (ED) as their primary source to get care. The ED might therefore be the first interaction patients have with the health system and the first time adults find out that they have hypertension. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), for adults who do not have a primary care doctor, they are referred to a clinic to be seen by a healthcare provider within 5 days of their ED visit. This clinic helps establish healthcare for patients and set them up with a provider and manage any acute healthcare problems they have (e.g., diabetes, poor kidney function).

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate whether a remote blood pressure monitoring program with a team of pharmacists and physicians to manage blood pressure among patients who are found to have high blood pressure in this clinic is possible. We will be providing a blood pressure monitor to the participants in the study and we will instruct them on how to use it. Participants will then meet weekly with a pharmacist to go over their blood pressure measurements, have blood pressure medications prescribed if needed, and discuss difficulties with measuring blood pressure or barriers to obtaining medications (such as cost, transportation). We will also be interviewing patients seen in the clinic, doctors, nurses and pharmacists to get their feedback before the study starts on all materials and study workflow. If this intervention (remote blood pressure monitoring + team of pharmacists and physicians) is found to be feasible and is positively received by participants, then we will design a bigger study to test if this intervention can reduce blood pressure. The ultimate goal is to be able to identify and manage hypertension equitably across all the US population so that people can live a healthier and longer life.