SMS System for Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension

Short Message Service System for Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension

This is a pilot study to determine the potential of utilizing Short Message Service (SMS) messaging to improve health outcomes for patients with uncontrolled hypertension receiving care from the Outpatient Internal Medicine Clinic at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital.

The pilot will evaluate the feasibility of implementing a Short Message Service (SMS) system and Home Blood Pressure Measurements (HBPM) in the Outpatient Internal Medicine (OPD) clinic at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. Implementing a new short text messaging service will improve the health delivery system in three ways. 1) Increasing patient engagement: SMS and HBPM require an active commitment by the patients themselves in their medical care and results in a marked improvement in the adherence to medication. High adherence to home blood pressure (BP) measurements has also been reported to improve BP control. 2) Supporting patients outside of the office visits by identifying and resolving barriers to medication adherence earlier on (i.e. if patients are unable to get their prescriptions or are having significant side effects). 3) Adopting clinical guidelines to improve BP control in a vulnerable population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have been diagnosed with hypertension
• 18 and older
• stage 2 hypertension or greater systolic blood pressure [(SBP)>140 and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >90] who are receiving antihypertensive treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy
• end-stage renal disease (on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis)
• hospice or nursing home care
• dementia
• Patients who do not have a phone with Short Message Service (SMS) capabilities will also be excluded.