P. Michael Ho, MD, PhD

Medical Director of Improve | Senior Clinician Investigator

P. Michael Ho, MD, PhD, is the Medical Director of Innovative Methods Promoting Operational Value and Efficiency (IMPROVE) and a Senior Clinician Investigator at the Institute for Health Research. His research focuses on finding ways to optimize delivery of safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable care.

Dr. Ho received his medical training at the Tulane School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana and completed an internship, residency, and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He also received a PhD in Clinical Science from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. His research teams are working to leveraging mHealth technologies to engage patients in self-management and improve cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol as well as medication adherence. Dr. Ho also serves as the medical director for the IMPROVE Program at Kaiser Permanente Colorado.

Dr. Ho is a practicing clinical physician in Cardiology with the Colorado Permanente Medical Group at Kaiser Permanente Colorado. He is also an Adjoined Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Ho is the deputy editor of the journal Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an active Endorsement and Maintenance (E&M) committee member of the Partnership for Quality Measurement and fellow at the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

Outside Appointments and Memberships:

  • Deputy Editor, Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes Journal
  • Partnership for Quality Measurement, Endorsement & Maintenance (E&M) Committee member
  • Fellow, American College of Cardiology
  • Fellow, American Heart Association

Selected Research:

  • Personalized Patient Data and Behavioral Nudges to Improve Adherence to Chronic Cardiovascular Medications (The Nudge Study)

    • The goal of the Nudge study is to employ population level pharmacy data to identify non-adherent patients and utilize SMS to send them tailored, engaging and motivating text messages and text message-based chat through an artificially intelligent (AI) interactive chat bot to improve cardiac medication adherence and patient outcomes in 3 integrated healthcare delivery systems.

    • Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH
    • Award End Date: 06/30/2025

  • Using AI text messaging technology to improve AHA's LE8 Health Behaviors: Chat 4 Heart Health

    • The goal of the Chat 4 Heart Health Study is to improve control of cardiovascular risk factors by engaging patients from federally qualified health centers who have elevated cardiovascular risk with a technology-based self-management intervention focusing on control of the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) lifestyle factors. We will conduct a pragmatic, patient-level randomized intervention across three health systems which include FQHCs.

    • Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH
    • Award End Date: 05/31/2028