High blood pressure is a silent killer. One in every three adults has high
blood pressure, and it’s the primary or contributing cause of death for
nearly 1,000 patients per day. Diet, exercise, and medication are effective
treatments, yet nationally only half of those diagnosed have their blood
pressure in control. Intermountain Healthcare identified 144,000
patients with high blood pressure and had one objective: improve the
percentage of those in control of their blood pressure.
A Team Approach
Under the direction of the Primary Care Clinical Program, a
multidisciplinary development team was created to tackle high blood
pressure and provide better data and tools for clinicians and patients.
In partnership with Intermountain’s clinics, the team implemented the
following strategies in 2015:
- Trained direct care staff in accurate blood pressure measurement
- Created a care process model with a standardized treatment
algorithm to guide clinical management
- Built a population health registry to track and monitor adherence
to best practices
- Developed reports to identify patients who were not in control,
encourage more frequent follow-up visits, and recommend
interventions
- Educated patients about healthy lifestyles and how to monitor
and measure blood pressure at home
- Rechecked blood pressure during the same visit for patients with
elevated blood pressure
- Scheduled two- to four-week follow-up visits for patients who
started or changed medication
The Results
In January 2015, 65 percent of Intermountain’s identified blood pressure
patients were in control. By the end of the year, that percentage improved
to 68 percent, an increase of 6,865 patients in control of their blood
pressure and preventing an estimated 185 heart attacks within our system
over a 5-year period.