Preventing heart disease | American Medical Association

• One in three American adults has high blood pressure.
• Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.

The AMA and AHA have partnered on Target: BP™, an effort to encourage physicians and health care teams to prioritize blood pressure management and reduce the number of Americans who suffer a heart attack or stroke.

Goal: BP is the go-to source for information and guidance on how to improve blood pressure control rates and recognizes practices in this commitment.

Who: BP™ is a national initiative founded by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in response to the epidemic of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP). Committed to advancing health equity, Target:BP aims to: support Healthcare organizations (HCOs) are engaged in education and quality improvement efforts to improve blood pressure management practices and rates. recognize HCO for its commitment to implementing evidence-based practices and achieving blood pressure control rates of 70% or higher, and advocate We call for policy changes to better align patient compensation and provider reimbursement with hypertension science at the federal, state, local, and institutional levels. Goals: BP is focused on adopting team-based models of care and prioritizing equitable health outcomes.

It is estimated that 46% of adults in the United States have high blood pressure and less than half have their blood pressure under control, increasing their risk of heart attack, stroke, and death. Who: BP offers free professional education, QI resources, and practice tools powered by the AMA MAP™ framework, a practical guide to improving health outcomes, to help healthcare providers and care teams improve blood pressure control rates. We will support you. The AMA MAP framework refers to:

• measure accurately Obtain accurate, actionable data to diagnose hypertension and assess blood pressure control
• act quickly to initiate and/or enhance evidence-based treatments;
• partner with the patient Monitor blood pressure and support patient activation to improve treatment compliance.

Reduce diagnostic uncertainty

• Accurately measure blood pressure in the office.
• Check office blood pressure using ambulatory blood pressure measurements (24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or self-measured blood pressure monitoring).
• Use EHRs to identify undiagnosed or undertreated hypertensive patients.

reduce treatment inertia

• Use evidence-based treatment protocols.
• If necessary, prescribe monotherapy combination therapy.
• Follow up with patients frequently.

Reduced treatment non-compliance

• Facilitate shared decision-making between healthcare providers and patients to set goals.
• Prioritize patients at highest risk with poorly controlled blood pressure.
• Utilize evidence-based self-measured blood pressure (SMBP).

There are three complementary options for HCOs to engage targets: BP, AHA, and AMA.

1. HCOs can choose a self-guided version using web-based tools and educational events to submit data for annual evaluation.
2. HCOs can partner with local AHA Community Impact Team members who facilitate evaluation, learning, and data submission, provide additional local resources where possible, and support sustainable connections with the community.
3. HCOs can work with AMA IHO’s team of experts to implement the MAP framework with metrics, a set of tools, resources, and receive one-on-one expert training on implementation and best practices .

Target: An important part of the BP program is to recognize organizations that are working to improve blood pressure management. The Target: The BP Recognition Program is aimed at companies committed to reducing the number of adult patients with uncontrolled blood pressure, implementing evidence-based blood pressure activities, and achieving blood pressure control rates of 70% or higher. will be commended.

In 2022, approximately 1,300 organizations serving 8.4 million people with hypertension in 39 states will commit to improving blood pressure control rates by submitting data to the 2022 Goal: Blood Pressure Awareness Program. 675 of these organizations confirmed their implementation of science-based blood pressure measurement practices, and 551 of them reported a 70% or higher blood pressure control rate for science-based self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring. did.

For more information, see Target: BP.