Improving Effective Hypertension Management in a Rural Primary Care Clinic Using American Heart Association Guidelines

Background: Hypertension affects nearly 50% of adult Americans and can lead to serious cardiovascular complications, including myocardial infarction, stroke, and death. The Centers for Disease Control noted that hypertension costs $131 billion a year in healthcare visits, medications to treat high blood pressure, and loss of productivity due to premature death. Methods: The project consisted of four Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles implementing two core interventions with tests of change for each cycle driven by study of the data. Results: Repeating blood pressure measurements improved from 14% to 69% over 8 weeks, with a z-score calculated regarding the aim with a pre-and post-implementation p < 0.0001. Hypertension screening was used in 84% of eligible participants and patient engagement was used with 39%. Conclusions: This project improved hypertension screening and increased patient engagement. The interventions can be easily implemented in similar settings.