Ai Voice Agents Helped Improve Accuracy Of Blood Pressure Measurements In Older Adults

Artificial intelligence (AI) sound agents helped older adults pinch precocious humor unit to accurately study their humor unit readings and improved humor unit management, according to preliminary investigation presented astatine nan American Heart Association's Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2025. The gathering is successful Baltimore, September 4-7, 2025, and is nan premier technological speech focused connected caller advances successful basal and objective investigation connected precocious humor unit and its narration to cardiac and kidney disease, stroke, obesity and genetics.

Controlling humor unit remains a cornerstone for improving cardiovascular outcomes for patients, however, capturing timely, compliant humor unit readings remains a challenge, peculiarly for patients pinch constricted entree to care. In our study, we were capable to amended accuracy of humor unit measures and diligent outcomes."

Tina-Ann Kerr Thompson, M.D., lead study author, elder vice president of nan superior attraction work statement and executive head of nan organization wellness collaborative astatine Emory Healthcare, Atlanta

AI sound agents are conversational systems powered by ample connection models that tin understand and nutrient earthy reside successful existent clip erstwhile interacting pinch humans. This study included 2,000 adults, a mostly ages 65 and older, and was designed to measure nan effectiveness and scalability of a voice-enabled AI supplier successful engaging patients to self-report meticulous humor unit readings, successful spot of a telephone telephone pinch a wellness attraction master astir their humor unit measures. The AI supplier besides identified patients successful request of follow-up aesculapian attraction based connected their humor unit readings.

The AI voice-agent calls to patients were made utilizing commercially disposable AI successful aggregate languages, including English and Spanish. A humor unit reference extracurricular nan period scope for readings that alteration based connected nan beingness of different conditions, specified arsenic diabetes, resulted successful nan telephone being escalated to a licensed caregiver aliases aesculapian assistant. The beingness of symptoms specified arsenic dizziness, blurred imagination aliases thorax symptom besides prompted escalation of nan call. Escalation to further attraction was contiguous successful urgent situations aliases wrong 24 hours for non-urgent issues.

The patients were contacted by nan sound supplier to supply caller humor unit readings aliases to behaviour unrecorded measurements during nan call. After nan call, nan readings were entered into nan patient's physics wellness grounds and reviewed by a clinician. Call routing and referrals for attraction guidance were prompted for patients pinch difficult-to-control precocious humor pressure. This process reduced nan manual workload by clinicians and resulted successful an 88.7% little cost-per-reading. This magnitude was calculated by comparing nan costs of commercially disposable AI sound agents pinch nan usage of quality nurses to execute akin tasks that consequence successful successfully obtaining diligent self-reported humor unit readings.

The study recovered that integrating AI into objective workflows lowered costs and improved attraction guidance for patients. During nan study period:

• 85% of patients were successfully reached by nan voice-based AI agent.
• Of those patients, 67% completed nan call, and 60% took a compliant humor unit reference during nan call. Among these patients, 68% met CBP (controlling humor pressure) Stars compliance thresholds.
• Overall, 1,939 CBP gaps were closed, elevating nan measurement from 1-Star to 4-Star performance-a 17% improvement. The Medicare Advantage (MA) and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) CBP measurement accrued from a antecedently reported 1-star standing to 4-star rating.
• At nan extremity of each completed call, patients received a two-question study to complaint their restitution connected a standard of 1 to 10, pinch 10 being 100% satisfied. Among nan completed calls, nan mean patient-reported restitution complaint exceeded 9 retired of 10, reflecting an fantabulous wide acquisition pinch nan voice-based AI agent.

"We were amazed by nan precocious diligent restitution scores aft interacting pinch artificial intelligence-based sound agents," said Thompson. "We are excited for what that intends for nan future, since diligent engagement and restitution are truthful captious to wellness attraction outcomes."

"This could beryllium a game-changing study," said Eugene Yang, M.D., M.S., FACC, an American Heart Association unpaid expert. "Accurate humor unit readings are basal to improving control, and caller approaches tin thief make that possible. Breakthrough AI technologies for illustration this could toggle shape really we negociate humor unit by reaching patients wherever they are and addressing captious barriers, specified arsenic constricted entree to attraction and gaps successful diligent support." Yang, who was not progressive successful this study, is simply a professor successful nan section of cardiology and nan Carl and Renée Behnke Endowed Chair for Asian Health astatine University of Washington School of Medicine.

The study has respective limitations. This study was observational and did not person a power group. The consecutive AI calls were not compared to quality calls; instead, AI voice-calls were deployed because it was not imaginable to make an capable number of human-only calls. In addition, nan study was retrospective, meaning it reviewed existing data, and information was completed aft nan clinically identified calls were already made.

Study details, inheritance and design:

• Participants included 2,000 adults; a mostly were ages 65 aliases older (average property of 72 years; 61% women) receiving attraction for precocious humor pressure.
• Review of physics wellness records identified patients who were missing humor unit information aliases whose astir caller BP reference was not wrong nan normal scope of <120/80 mm Hg. Patients pinch these gaps successful information were tagged to person calls from nan AI sound agent.
• The study was conducted pinch patients astatine Emory Healthcare successful Atlanta during a 10-week period. Patients received astatine slightest 1 telephone telephone during nan study. Patients received much than 1 telephone if they did not reply nan phone.
• Patients pinch unfastened gaps successful managing humor unit were identified done physics aesculapian records (EMR) and payer analytics. Patient lists were reviewed to guarantee nan accusation successful their records was correct, and they were verified for outreach by a objective operations squad to guarantee real-time accuracy of gaps earlier outreach to nan patients.
• AI texts, telephone calls from nan accepted attraction team, caller objective visits wherever archiving could beryllium recovered for a humor unit reference and generative AI sound agents were utilized to interaction patients to supply caller humor unit readings aliases return their humor unit reference during nan call. These included immoderate caller objective visits wherever archiving could beryllium recovered for a BP recorded. 
• A post-call validation measurement was integrated into nan workflow, successful which readings were entered into nan EHR, reviewed by a clinician and submitted arsenic supplemental information to adjacent nan Stars value gap. For patients pinch uncontrolled precocious humor pressure, objective escalation referrals were made to attraction guidance teams.
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed nan Star Ratings system, known arsenic MA Stars, to complaint Medicare Advantage (MA) (Part C) and medicine supplier (Part D) plans connected a 5-star standard pinch 1 being nan lowest people and 5 being nan highest score. MA plans are plans from backstage security companies approved by Medicare and not issued by Medicare itself. Hospitals, attraction centers and clinicians are eligible to person a prize costs summation if they execute astatine slightest a 4-star rating.

Self-measured humor unit is simply a attraction area of Target:BP, an American Heart Association inaugural that helps wellness attraction organizations amended humor unit power rates done an evidence-based program. Home humor unit monitoring is recommended for each adults pinch immoderate level of precocious humor pressure, arsenic noted successful nan Association's new 2025 line connected precocious humor pressure, released past month.