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MONDAY, March 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many opportunities have been identified for improving blood pressure (BP) control, according to a study published online March 6 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes<\/i> to coincide with a presentation at the American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention\/Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2020 Scientific Sessions, held from March 3 to 6 in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Rhonda M. Cooper-DeHoff, Pharm.D., from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues produced a set of quality metrics relevant to improving BP control using queries against standardized electronic health record (EHR) data in the national Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network Common Data Model format. The metrics were reported back to health systems to allow for observation of trends.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that to date, 19 datamarts had contributed EHR data from 1,177,232 patients who met eligibility criteria for the BP Control measure and 4,454,729 encounters that included a BP measurement. The results demonstrated considerable scope for improvement in BP control (60 percent had BP <140\/90 mm Hg) and in health care processes, including medication intensification (12 percent) and use of fixed-dose combination medications (24 percent).<\/p>\n
“We were particularly struck by the low rates of medication intensification when blood pressure is found to be high during a clinic visit — if we can improve medication prescribing rates, our data suggest we could make a big difference in blood pressure control,” Cooper-DeHoff said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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