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Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign yields favorable early results for BP detection, control
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The American Medical Group Foundation announced that the Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign, a national antihypertension campaign, has improved the detection and control of BP in 205,000 US patients in the first year since its inception.
Early data on the campaign also indicate that the mean BP control rate is 69% for participating medical groups, compared with the national average of 47% as indicated by CDC data, according to a press release.
“Our initial data confirm that we are making a dramatic difference in the health and well-being of our patients with high BP less than 2 years into our effort,” Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, president and CEO of the American Medical Group Association and secretary of the American Medical Group Foundation board, said in the release. “We commend all participating groups, particularly those that have made significant strides in control and improvement, and look forward to progressing toward our campaign goal.”
The campaign, initiated in late 2012, includes about 150 medical groups and health systems nationwide, and represents more than 42 million patients. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage participants to incorporate evidence-based care processes for the improvement of outcomes in patients with high BP, in addition to providing tools and resources for the implementation of these processes.
The highest BP control rate among participating groups was 89.7%, achieved by Springfield Clinic in Springfield, Ill. “Utilizing the campaign planks, we developed a hypertension treatment and management guideline, trained all clinical staff on appropriate BP measurement, targeted our outreach through gap reports and patient registries and expedited follow-up appointments for patients prescribed a new hypertension medication,” Mary Stewart, RN, chief clinical officer at the clinic, said in the release.
Measure Up/Pressure Down is the first initiative launched as part of the Chronic Care Challenge, a program developed by the foundation to improve outcomes and quality of care for patients with chronic illnesses. The goal for the campaign is for 80% of patients with high BP within the participating groups to have controlled BP by 2016, according to the release.
For more information:
Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign: www.measureuppressuredown.com.