Characteristics of Health Care Practices and Systems That Excel in Hypertension Control

Prev Chronic Dis. 2018 Jun 7:15:E73. doi: 10.5888/pcd15.170497.

Abstract

Approximately 1 in 3 US adults has hypertension, but only half have their blood pressure controlled. We identified characteristics of health care practices and systems (hereinafter practices) effective in achieving control rates at or above 70% by using data collected via applications submitted from April through June 2017 for consideration in the Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge. We included 96 practices serving 635,000 patients with hypertension across 34 US states in the analysis. Mean hypertension control rate was 77.1%; 27.1% of practices had a control rate of 80% or greater. Although many practices served large populations with multiple risk factors for uncontrolled hypertension, high control rates were achieved with implementation of evidenced-based strategies.

MeSH terms

  • Antihypertensive Agents / therapeutic use
  • Blood Pressure
  • Blood Pressure Determination
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / epidemiology
  • Hypertension / therapy*
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Prevalence
  • Rural Population
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Urban Population

Substances

  • Antihypertensive Agents