HealthPartners Institute is embarking on the next phase of its ongoing high blood pressure study, dubbed Hyperlink, with a $6 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 

The hospital said it will use the new PCORI funding to build expand the study to more patients. 

In the new research phase, HealthPartners will work with telemedicine and remote patient monitoring vendor AMC Health to track patients’ blood pressure from home and directly link to pharmacists or nurse practitioners. 

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As part of the program, AMC Health will give patients in-home devices that patients will use to measure their blood pressure several times a week. 

Those devices will automatically send vitals data through AMC Health’s CareConsole clinical platform into the HealthPartners Epic electronic health records system. The technology will also enable pharmacists to review, analyze and act upon home blood pressure readings to manage patients’ hypertension.

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Hyperlink telehealth is in addition to regular doctor visits, which will determine if remote patient monitoring can improve a patient’s health and decrease blood pressure more than traditional clinic-based care.

“Over 85 million adults have high blood pressure – that’s one in every three adults in the U.S.,” said Karen Margolis, MD, with HealthPartners. “Only about half of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.”

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com