Erie County Medical Center Leverages Brook Health's AI and Remote Care Platform to Transform Hypertension Management

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Jun 25, 2024, 09:00 ET

Collaboration Doubles Blood Pressure Control for High-Risk Patients in 12 Weeks

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Brook Health, which blends remote clinical teams with AI to extend care into the home, today released results of a nurse-led remote monitoring program at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo that succeeded in doubling the rate of blood pressure control among high-risk patients with hypertension.

Data from the program illustrates that blood pressure control dramatically improves as patients continue in the program. In just the first 12 weeks of enrollment, the percentage of patients with controlled blood pressure rose significantly from 37.4% to 67.7%. Hypertension control is an important value-based care metric and is proven to help reduce the incidence of strokes, heart attacks, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure.

The program, a collaboration between ECMC and Brook Health, provides eligible patients with cellular-connected blood pressure cuffs and the Brook Health app to track their blood pressure readings from home. Nurses monitor the incoming data on dashboards and proactively reach out to patients to provide education, troubleshoot issues, and coordinate care with physicians. The technology is provided by Brook Health, which provides a comprehensive patient management system.

"It's been wonderful to see everyone come together for a common goal," said Amanda Farrell, RN, the ECMC project manager and a front-line nurse. "By leveraging Brook Health's remote monitoring platform, we've been able to transform hypertension care for our patients. The technology empowers patients to easily share blood pressure data from home, while enabling our clinical team to provide timely, personalized support. It's a win-win."

Key elements of the program's success include:

A dedicated nurse-led education protocol and 30-minute onboarding visits
Cellular blood pressure cuffs and an app that enable effortless data sharing by patients
Proactive monitoring and outreach by nurses to coach patients through obstacles
Telemedicine visits with physicians to adjust medications when needed
A culture change that has providers and nurses celebrating patients' progress

In addition to helping patients control hypertension, the program's technology empowers ECMC clinicians to provide 'always-on' care without increasing their workload.

"Our goal is to strip away all of the burden that we can off of the nurses and doctors," said Lucia Rossi, VP of ambulatory services and population health at ECMC. "Brook Health's AI-powered platform is a game-changer. It allows us to provide always-on, proactive care without overburdening our clinicians. We can now support patients between visits, identify issues early, and intervene before complications arise. The technology is enhancing our care model and enabling us to achieve better outcomes."

The team developed a nurse-led education protocol including written materials modeled after the American Medical Association's Blood Pressure guidelines. Eligible patients have a blood pressure of 130/90 or higher. Nurses identify these patients and refer them to providers for a decision on enrollment. Currently there are about 600 patients in the program. It's grown so large, in fact, that ECMC is considering "graduating" some of the successful patients to make room for more.

"This program demonstrates the transformative power of combining remote monitoring technology, AI insights, and human care teams to tackle chronic conditions like hypertension," said Oren Nissim, CEO and Co-Founder of Brook Health. "ECMC's success is a testament to the dedication of their clinicians and the potential of our platform to extend care beyond traditional settings. We look forward to expanding this model to help more patients and providers achieve better health outcomes."

By helping patients overcome social determinants of health such as health literacy, access to care, and the stresses of poverty, ECMC's remote hypertension program is making dramatic strides in chronic disease management for an underserved population. The ECMC team now hopes to expand the successful approach to other chronic conditions.

ABOUT ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER (ECMC) CORPORATION
The ECMC Corporation was established as a New York State Public Benefit Corporation and since 2004 has included an advanced academic medical center with 573 inpatient beds, on- and off-campus health centers, more than 30 outpatient specialty care services and Terrace View, a 390-bed long-term care facility. ECMC is Western New York's only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center, as well as a regional center for burn care, behavioral health services, transplantation, medical oncology and head & neck cancer care, rehabilitation and a major teaching facility for the University at Buffalo. Most ECMC physicians, dentists and pharmacists are dedicated faculty members of the university and/or members of a private practice plan. More Western New York residents are choosing ECMC for exceptional patient care and patient experiences—the difference between healthcare and true care™.

ABOUT BROOK HEALTH
Brook Health is enabling the future of remote patient care with a unique offering that blends remote clinical teams with AI to deliver continuous, always-on care. Brook augments traditional healthcare by combining intelligent data collection and analysis with compassionate support from skilled health specialists -- shifting the paradigm from reactive, intermittent check-ups to proactive, ever-present, habitual care. For patients, this means getting better, faster, with instant access to care teams from the comfort of home. Providers can extend their care into patients' homes without increasing clinician workloads. And payers can help members improve long-term health, slow disease progression, and reduce costly admissions. Brook AI is trained on more than 5 million messages and over five years of patient conversations, and serves as a personalized health assistant — providing timely nudges, insights, and recommendations. It all translates into better patient outcomes and ROI. Learn more at brook.ai.

Media Contact
Katlyn Nesvold
Amendola for Brook Health
[email protected]

SOURCE Brook Health