29 Aug Kaiser’s Hypertension Program Dramatically Improves Blood Pressure Control in Large Population

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Marc Jaffe, MD
Clinical Leader, Kaiser Northern California Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program
Clinical Leader, Kaiser National Integrated Cardiovascular Health (ICVH) Guideline Development Group
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF
Endocrinology and Internal Medicine
Kaiser South San Francisco Medical Center
1200 El Camino Real
South San Francisco, California 94080

MedicalResearch.com:    What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Jaffe: In 2001, we set out to improve blood pressure control in among Kaiser Permanente (KP) members in Northern California, and we ended up creating one of the largest, community-based hypertension programs in the nation. The paper published in JAMA explores how we combined a number of innovations, including a patient registry, single-pill combination therapy drugs and more, to nearly double blood pressure control rates.

If you had told us at the onset that blood pressure control among members would be more than 80 percent, and it was actually almost 90 percent in 2011, we wouldn’t have believed you. These results are truly incredible. During the study period, hypertension control increased by more than 35 percent from 43.6 percent to 80.4 percent in Kaiser Permanente Northern California between 2001 and 2009. In contrast, the national mean control rate increased from 55.4 percent to 64.1 percent during that period.

MedicalResearch.com:  What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Jaffe: There is hope for patients with hypertension to get their blood pressure under control, especially if their health care providers follow some of the steps outlined in our paper.  This model is replicable, and we published this article in JAMA so other hospitals and health systems could implement elements of this system that was so successful for us.  Perhaps by following these methods, clinicians can improve blood pressure control nationwide.

MedicalResearch.com:     What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Jaffe: We hope other hospitals and health systems will try out the elements that were successful for us with this program as well as other strategies and report on their own results so the health care system as a whole can benefit.

Citation:

Jaffe MG, Lee GA, Young JD, Sidney S, Go AS. Improved Blood Pressure Control Associated With a Large-Scale Hypertension Program. JAMA. 2013;310(7):699-705. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.108769.

Last Updated on October 18, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD