AMGA, AMGF unveil two major resources to improve high blood pressure control

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and the American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) today unveiled two major resources for healthcare providers, patients, employers, and other stakeholders as part of the Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign to improve high blood pressure prevention, detection, and control. May is National High Blood Pressure Month and Stroke Awareness Month and provides an opportunity to improve care by engaging patients, physicians, communities, and the media in the campaign's efforts to address this national health issue.

AMGA and AMGF has launched a new website to provide resources for healthcare professionals, patients, family members, and others as part of the national Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign to help increase high blood pressure awareness. At www.MeasureUpPressureDown.com, visitors can find resources and information on how to prevent and manage high blood pressure and can take a pledge to do their part to raise awareness and reduce the dangers of high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a leading cause of strokes, heart disease, and diabetes complications. One in three or an estimated 67 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure. The website provides tools to help patients manage high blood pressure and educational resources for both patients and providers.

In concert with the website, AMGA and AMGF also released a toolkit to help providers attain the Measure Up/Pressure Down campaign goal to achieve 80% of their patient population with high blood pressure in control by 2016. The toolkit provides useful tools, tips, and resources to help jump-start a hypertension quality improvement initiative and get organizations on the road to achieving better control rates. Contributing groups include Cleveland Clinic, Fletcher Allen Healthcare/University of Vermont, Kaiser Permanente, Mercy Clinics, PriMed Physicians, Providence Medical Group, Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, and ThedaCare.

The toolkit is organized around each of the eight campaign planks (care processes). For each plank, providers will find:

• Concise one-pagers with guidance including actionable steps and suggested resources for implementing the plank
• Best practices tools used by some of the nation's leading healthcare organizations
• A recommended case study from AMGA's Best Practices in Managing Hypertension Compendium for details on how the plank was implemented by medical groups that achieved significant improvements in their control rates

"We are extremely pleased to release these new resources for consumers and providers," said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., AMGA president and chief executive officer and AMGF board secretary. "By providing tools to help providers improve care and patients better manage their health, we believe we can make a dramatic difference in the nation's health."

Measure Up/Pressure Down is also co-hosting an event related to National High Blood Pressure Education Month. In collaboration with campaign partner the American Kidney Fund, AMGA members Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, MedStar Physician Partners, and Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group will participate in a blood pressure and kidney disease screening event at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, May 14, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. The event is open to the public and will be held on the plaza area outside HHS headquarters located at 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC.