Improving Hypertension _ Diabetes Control and Prevention
  
An e-NEWSLETTER from Quality Insights                                                                               October 31, 2017

new quality insights pilot program helps patients upload home blood pressure readings into practice patient portals 

home bp monitor Patients' home blood pressure (BP) readings are a vital piece to engaging patients in their care and management of their hypertension. There may be times when you would like review their home BP readings prior to their next office visit, for multiple consecutive days, or when the patient is traveling and isn't able to schedule an office visit.
 
Quality Insights is piloting a project in which patients would be trained to upload their BP readings into your patient portal. Transferring BP readings from the patient portal into the electronic health record (EHR) is a faster and easier way to review patient BPs. Providing this self-reporting option engages patients in the self-management of their hypertension.

As part of the pilot project Quality Insights will:
  • Work with EHR vendors to create a workflow for patients with hypertension to enter their home BP readings into the patient portal
  • Identify potential patients diagnosed with hypertension at each practice to participate in the pilot project and develop a practice specific workflow with roles and responsibilities for monitoring the home BPs entered in the patient portal
  • Provide two onsite patient education sessions on how to accurately take a home BP and how to enter these readings into the patient portal
  • If pilot is successful and you would like to expand to additional patients, Quality Insights will provide patient education materials for you to provide to your patients:
    • How to accurately take your  home BP
    • How to enter their home BP reading into the patient portal
  • Work with the practice/EHR vendor for a process to communicate hypertension educational materials to patients via the patient portal (including videos, handouts, etc.)
  • Perform monthly chart audit on 10 patients that have hypertension to determine if patients submitted BP data according to the practice guidelines (this would be a great opportunity for both your patients and your practice) 
Contact Ashley Biscardi, Roxanne Fletcher or Sarah Toborowski today to be a part of the pilot project.   Only three sites can receive these free services so contact Quality Insights as soon as possible if you are interested in participating.
resources to educate and motivate your patients with hypertension   

EducationNelson Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Truer words have never been spoken. In order to tackle the ever increasing hypertension crisis in Delaware, and across the country, we need to make sure that our patients with hypertension are first educated about their condition, and are then armed with the knowledge of what they can do to best manage it and keep it under control.

Below are links to some great resources from AHA that you can share with your patients:
CDC podcasts highlight how healthy lifestyle modifications can improve heart health and prevent hypertension 

healthy food A Cup of Health with CDC: Dealing with High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure (HBP) increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States. Nearly 30 percent of the U.S. adult population had HBP during 2001-2004, and HBP was not controlled in approximately 70 percent of those persons. To assess the prevalence of actions to control HBP, CDC analyzed data from 20 states. The results indicated that nearly all adults with HBP were taking at least some action, but some persons can take additional actions, including dietary changes, exercise, and taking prescribed medication. Listen to the podcast now .

A Cup of Health with CDC: Living a Less Salty Life
A diet high in sodium, or salt, can raise BP, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Dr. Darwin Labarthe discusses the importance of lowering your salt intake in order to minimize the risk of developing hypertension.
Listen to the podcast now .

A Cup of Health with CDC: Heart Health
A healthy heart is the key to a healthy life. Each year, more than 17 million people die from cardiovascular disease, mainly heart disease and stroke, making it the leading cause of death worldwide. In this podcast , Judy Hannan discusses how to maintain a healthy heart. 
resources your practice can use to implement successful hypertension intervention strategies 

heart Quality Insights encourages your practice to reference the resources listed below in its efforts to implement and improve upon existing hypertension intervention strategies.
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) - Hypertension Control - The HRSA quality improvement approach focuses on key changes in the following areas (pages 29-31 speak specifically to these quality improvement efforts):
    • Community
    • Healthcare Organizations
    • Self-Management
    • Delivery System Design
    • Clinical Decision Support
    • Information Systems
  • Center for Disease Control (CDC) - Hypertension Change Control Package for Clinicians - This package presents a listing of key process improvements that ambulatory clinical settings can implement while working to improve hypertension control in their practices. It includes change concepts, change ideas, plus tools and resources to make your efforts successful.
  • Measure Up/Pressure Down® Toolkit - To help you address many of the common challenges associated with effectively treating and managing high blood pressure (BP), the American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) and American Medical Group Association (AMGA) has produced this provider toolkit as part of our Measure Up/Pressure Down three-year national campaign. The goal of Measure Up/Pressure Down is to mobilize doctors, nurses and the entire healthcare team to work together to achieve the goal of having 80 percent of their patient population with high blood pressure in control. This toolkit includes useful tools, tips, and resources to help you jump-start your hypertension quality improvement initiative and get on the road to achieving better control rates.
Quality Insights is here to help you put the resources into action. Please contact your Practice Transformation Specialist for assistance.
healthcare providers share efforts taken to improve hypertension control

doctors Improving Blood Pressure Control for Patients with Diabetes in Four Community Health Centers
Community Health Centers, Inc. (CHC) is a medical practice comprised of four urban community health centers in Utah. CHC developed a plan to leverage its electronic health record (EHR) and clinical decision support (CDS) approaches to improve care for diabetic patients and improve the blood pressure (BP) target. They focused on increasing the percent of all patients with Type 2 diabetes with BP<140/90 to 73 percent. Click here to learn more.

TARGET: BP - Help Your Patients Move Toward Controlled Blood Pressure

In a recent webinar hosted by the New England QIN-QIO, Michael Rakotz, MD, Director of Chronic Disease Prevention at the American Medical Association, leads a discussion for providers and office staff on BP measurement techniques for the home. 

In this recorded session, Dr. Rakotz describes the benefits of using self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) with your patients, and details when SMBP could be used to diagnose and help manage high BP. He will then review how to select a device and recommend a protocol for SMBP. The resources needed to create a successful SMBP program from your office and ways health IT can play a role in blood pressure control will also be covered. Q&A will follow the presentation. Access the webinar recording now.
video demonstrates proper blood pressure measurement techniques 

bp measurement Evaluation of BP is essential in assessing cardiovascular health. It is used in screening for hypertension and for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment in patients with established hypertension. In the routine outpatient setting, BP is measured indirectly. Thus, it is important that proper techniques be used in order to produce consistent and reliable readings.  

Download the New England Journal of Medicine staff training video now.
Attention practice administrators: join the newly established newark chapter of PAHCOM 

logo The Professional Association of Health Care Office Management (PAHCOM) is a national organization that fosters opportunities for practice administrators to come together, learn, share, and grow.  PAHCOM has started building a  Newark Chapter and welcomes you to join. There are currently over 40 members and the membership continues to grow every day.
 
The next chapter meeting will be on Thursday, November 9, 2017 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. The topic of the meeting will be " Understanding Medical Waste" and the guest speaker will be Matt Georgov from Choice Med Waste. The meeting will be held at the Medical Society of Delaware in the Iron Hill Corporate Center, 900 Prides Crossing, Newark. Click here for registration information
encourage your patients to attend the 16th annual diabetes wellness expo in november 

diabetes expo 2017 Tuesday, November 14, 2017
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Dover Downs Hotel and Conference Center, Dover, DE

This free event hosted by the Delaware Diabetes Coalition b rings together health care providers, businesses, diabetes-related organizations, and others to promote diabetes self-management and a healthier lifestyle for people with diabetes. Attendees can take advantage of free blood glucose screenings, educational presentations, vendors, blood pressure checks, flu shots, product specialists, door prizes and more. Lunch will also be provided on a first come first serve basis. 

Print out this Diabetes Wellness Expo flyer and post it in your office or hand out copies to your patients with diabetes and prediabetes and encourage them to attend.
contact information

For more details about the Improving Hypertension and Diabetes Care & Prevention project, please contact  Ashley BiscardiRoxanne Fletcher or Sarah Toborowski.

Quality Insights logo      
This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number 1U58DP004799-01 from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Publication number DEDPH-HD-103117