Measure Up Pressure Down

Blood pressure, a leading indicator of your health, can threaten your life if not properly controlled.

Premier partnered with AMGA in their national campaign (Measure Up/Pressure Down) to elevate awareness, set patient health goals and implement clinical strategies allowing physicians to work with patients to reduce their hypertension.

Our success with the program came in the form of approximately 80% of Premier patients positively controlling their blood pressure – a dramatic improvement over the national average trending at 53%.

Background

Heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and diabetic complications are all life-threatening concerns associated with unmanaged blood pressure. With the prevalence of high blood pressure (hypertension) in our country extending to nearly half of the adult population, there remains a critical need for improvement within primary care.

Premier chose to partner over 140 other prominent physician networks in the US for AMGA multi-year Measure Up/Pressure Down program to track patient health data, implement change and report progress in the hopes of reducing hypertension and advancing better care practices for this condition.

Outstanding Results

With a large medical practice responsible for over 100,000 patient visits annually, it takes excellence in operations to achieve very specific patient goals.  With team-wide commitment and diligence, Premier was able to elevate the percentage of patients with properly controlled blood pressure to 80%.

Chief Quality Officer, Dr. Francis Colangelo, explains, “Blood pressure is a measure regularly taken at every patient encounter, but far too often in the country, insufficient attention has allowed hypertension numbers to become a staggering 1 in 3 adults. Given the dire health implications, my fellow Premier providers and the AMGA network committed to dramatically improving this key health measure and the success has been amazing.”

Some of the key strategies to improve blood pressure were:

• Improve measurement accuracy with staff training
• Identify at-risk patient through electronic health record technology
• Provide physician and clinical support with regular office visits until blood pressure improves
• Treatment options included dietary changes, exercise and medication changes to gain control

Why It Matters To You

Common health measures, like blood pressure, can sometimes receive inadequate attention in the busy primary care offices across the country. As a high-performing health group, Premier seeks to manage your overall health at every visit. Some health conditions, such as hypertension are entirely avoidable or very manageable. With participation from the patient, we will solve health issues together.

Keeping patients out of the exam room, the emergency room and the hospital room – that’s our job. Keeping you mentally and physically healthy to live your life – that’s our goal.