Leaving the emergency room with dangerously high blood pressure can feel overwhelming. For many patients, the support ends the moment they walk out the door. A new pilot program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is changing that by helping patients take charge of their health from home.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, happens when blood flows through your arteries with too much force, putting stress on your heart and blood vessels. Without timely care, patients discharged from the hospital with high blood pressure can face serious health risks, including strokes or repeated hospital visits.

World Hypertension Day, observed on May 17, highlighted the need for better blood pressure management worldwide. That urgency is at the heart of the “Post-Emergency Department Telehealth Follow-Up Program”, led by Lama Ghazi, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at UAB. The project offers personalized, tech-enabled support to help patients safely recover and stay out of the hospital.

Who Is participating?

The study successfully enrolled 40 adults aged 30–75 discharged from UAB’s emergency department (ED) with very high blood pressure (systolic readings of 160 mm Hg or higher). All participants live within 30 miles of the hospital, speak English or Spanish, and use a home blood-pressure monitor, with support available from caregivers as needed.

What does the program involve?

Participants receive home blood-pressure monitors along with comprehensive training. Nurses teach participants and caregivers how to measure and record their blood pressure accurately. 

These preliminary results will help inform the next phase of the program, which continues to assess longer-term outcomes.

Recognizing the importance of digital literacy, the program introduced a 15-minute “tech check” call at the beginning to boost early engagement. Additionally, new Spanish-language tech guides introduced in March 2025 expanded access and helped ensure more participants could comfortably utilize and understand the materials.

What’s next?

The team will complete 180-day blood-pressure and quality-of-life assessments by mid-June 2025. A cost-effectiveness analysis is scheduled to begin in July, and expansion into two UAB community clinics is planned for late 2025. These next steps aim to evaluate long-term impacts on health outcomes and overall cost efficiency.

By combining user-friendly home monitoring, consistent virtual check-ins, and accessible medication support, Ghazi’s pilot demonstrates a practical approach to managing high blood pressure, potentially preventing severe health complications such as stroke.

Learn more about Ghazi’s Forge AHEAD pilot project.

June is Men’s Health Month, an opportunity to focus on health challenges that often go unnoticed, especially among men living with chronic conditions like diabetes. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Forge AHEAD investigator Seung-Yup Lee, Ph.D., is leading a pilot study that combines artificial intelligence with clinical data to prevent medication mix-ups and help patients get the follow-up they need.

Why men with diabetes need a smarter safety net

Men are more likely to delay routine visits and less likely to follow up after hospital care. both of which can lead to missed medications, dangerous side effects and avoidable complications. For those living with diabetes, these risks are even higher. Managing medications correctly is critical to controlling blood sugar, avoiding hospital readmissions and staying healthy.

But for busy clinics, it’s not always clear who needs the most help. That’s where Lee’s project steps in.

Using AI to spot who needs help first

Lee’s team is developing an AI-powered risk score to help doctors and pharmacists spot patients who are most likely to have medication problems. The system analyzes a wide range of health data, including medical records, prescription refill patterns, and social factors like insurance status or housing instability, to assign a “reconciliation risk score” to each patient with diabetes.

It’s important to know that AI doesn’t replace doctors, nurses or pharmacists. It doesn’t make decisions on its own or replace face-to-face care. Instead, it helps teams work smarter by pointing out which patients might need extra attention. That gives healthcare providers more time to focus on what people need most, support, questions answered and care that feels personal.

1. Data-driven prediction: The model looks at over 5,000 patient records and uses natural-language processing (a type of AI that reads doctors’ notes) to detect warning signs.
2. Real-time alerts: Risk scores are displayed inside a clinician dashboard so that care teams know who needs outreach before the next visit.
3. Focused follow-up: Patients with high scores receive extra attention, including calls from pharmacists to reconcile prescriptions and catch any problems early.

Measuring what matters: fewer errors, better follow-up

The pilot study includes around 200 patients and is testing whether the tool helps reduce medication discrepancies within 30 days. It’s also tracking whether fewer patients return to the hospital with drug-related issues, and how satisfied doctors and nurses are with using the system.

This type of focused support may be especially helpful for men, who often manage more complicated medication routines and may delay reaching out for help when issues arise.