At the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2025, researchers presented findings that show how AI-powered voice agents can help older adults manage blood pressure more effectively. Around the same time, conversational AI company Hyro launched a new solution, ARMR™ Outreach, to help health systems proactively reach patients at risk of losing coverage. Together, these developments point to a future where AI agents are not only practical but essential for healthcare engagement.
What the Emory Study Showed
Tina-Ann Kerr Thompson, M.D., and her team at Emory Healthcare tested a voice-enabled AI agent with 2,000 adults, most over age 65. Instead of relying on human staff to call patients about blood pressure readings, the AI handled the outreach.
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85% of patients were successfully reached.
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67% completed the call, and 60% took a compliant blood pressure reading.
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Among those, 68% met CMS Stars thresholds for blood pressure control.
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The program closed 1,939 quality gaps, lifting performance from 1-Star to 4-Star.
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Cost per reading dropped by nearly 89% compared to nurse-led calls.
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Patient satisfaction averaged 9 out of 10.
The AI didn’t just collect readings. It escalated urgent cases immediately to nurses and integrated validated readings into the EHR for clinical review.
Why AI Agents Stand Out
The value of this approach isn’t only in efficiency—it’s in how AI interacts with patients.
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Step-by-step guidance: The AI calmly walked older adults through taking and reporting blood pressure readings. In the future, this could extend to other self-assessments like checking blood sugar.
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Multi-lingual support: The study used English and Spanish. Many commercial solutions, including Hyro, also offer these today, with more languages coming soon. This expansion will help reach diverse populations that often face barriers to care.
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Patience and consistency: Human callers often feel the pressure of long call lists and limited time. AI doesn’t rush. It can pause, repeat, and explain until the patient is comfortable.
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Always available: Agents can work early, late, or overnight—without overtime costs.
This isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about freeing nurses and care teams to focus on higher-value work: handling escalations, following up with complex cases, and offering personalized coaching.
Hyro’s ARMR™ Outreach
On the commercial side, Hyro launched ARMR™ Outreach, part of its Proactive Px™ platform. ARMR (ACA Re-Enrollment & Medicaid Redetermination) is designed to help health systems contact patients whose coverage is at risk.
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Uses voice and SMS to notify patients and guide them through re-enrollment.
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Integrates with Epic, Salesforce, and other systems to streamline workflows.
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Includes a campaign manager and real-time analytics.
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Offers free onboarding and infrastructure, with health systems covering only third-party API costs.
Like the Emory study, ARMR™ Outreach shows how conversational AI can take on routine but critical outreach tasks at scale—ensuring patients don’t slip through the cracks.
Connecting the Dots
The Emory trial demonstrates how AI agents can directly improve clinical outcomes like blood pressure control. Hyro’s ARMR™ Outreach illustrates how the same technology can solve administrative challenges, such as insurance continuity.
Both cases highlight the same truth: AI voice agents are patient, scalable, and multilingual helpers that extend the reach of healthcare teams. Humans bring empathy and judgment. AI brings consistency and scale. Used together, they can close gaps in care, improve outcomes, and lower costs.
Final Word
AI in healthcare doesn’t have to be futuristic. It’s already proving its value—whether it’s guiding a senior through a blood pressure reading or reminding a family to renew their coverage. As commercial platforms expand language support and clinical programs scale up, AI voice agents are poised to become a cornerstone of patient engagement.
