Advancing Hypertension Control in Your Practice

Hypertension is one of the most important—and most treatable—risk factors for heart disease. Physicians and care teams have the power to make a significant difference. By championing targeted changes in policies, systems, and practices within their organizations, clinicians can help patients take meaningful steps toward better blood pressure control and long-term heart health. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Division of Public Health Services highlights three high-impact areas where organizations can drive real results: leveraging health information technology, embracing team-based care, and connecting patients with proven lifestyle change programs.

Health information technology (HIT) can help integrate, organize, and securely share patients’ health information with authorized care team members, which can improve both population-level monitoring and coordination of care for individual patients. 

Examples of HIT that can be used for this include: 

• electronic health records, 
• electronic prescribing information, 
• telehealth systems, 
• clinical decision support, 
• patient portals, and 
• consumer HIT products / applications, including patient generated data and data from wearable devices. 

By creating new or enhanced policies, protocols, or processes to support care team use of this data, organizations can help monitor and coordinate care for patients at highest risk of CVD, which can help improve health outcomes.

Team-based care – the co-management of patients by multi-disciplinary teams – is recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) based on strong evidence of effectiveness in improving the proportion of patients with controlled blood pressure and lower cholesterol. 

Organizations can include non-physician team members including: 

• Pharmacists, 
• Registered Dietitians, 
• Social Workers, 
• Community Paramedics, and
• Community Health Workers (or their equivalents).

Non-physician team members such as CHWs can provide a continuum of care and services which extend the benefits of clinical interventions and address social services and support needs leading to optimal health outcomes.

Lifestyle change programs can help patients engage in helpful lifestyle changes outside of the doctor’s office, so it’s vital to develop referral processes, policies, and/or practices to help connect patients to these self-management supports. 

Programs can help patients: 

• improve their blood pressure self-management, physical activity, and/or nutrition skills, or 
• address other areas of health that can support hypertension management. 

And, if these programs don’t exist locally, DHHS can help link providers to virtual programs or work with community-based organizations to offer them locally.

Helping patients improve their hypertension control is one of the most powerful steps we can take to protect their health—today and for years to come. The NH DHHS Division of Public Health Services is excited to partner with providers and organizations to put these strategies into action, such as:

• Million Hearts®, including the Hypertension Control Change Package
• Target: BP

To learn more about opportunities and support available across New Hampshire, keep an eye out for more resources from NHMS and the NH DHHS Division of Public Health, or visit the NH DHHS Division of Public Health’s Heart Disease Prevention Program website.

This material is provided as part of a public health grant between NHMS and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health.