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.