A planned 2018 trial of a health behavior intervention will use blood pressure readings collected in a hospital’s emergency department to target patients with hypertension who are either unaware of or not treating their condition. Those who enroll in the intervention will receive text messages to promote healthy behaviors, to prompt self-monitoring of BP, and to schedule appointments with and transport to appointments with primary care providers. MiCDA’s Lesli Skolarus, a PI on the project, says the strategy is intended to “reduce cardiovascular disparities by enrolling subjects who are more likely to use the emergency department – African-Americans and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients – and have uncontrolled hypertension.”

More about Skolarus and colleagues target ER patients for hypertension intervention using mobile phone >