An emerging public health and primary care strategy for hypertension management

Million Hearts is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative co-led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, with the goal of preventing one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. To help achieve this goal, Million Hearts aims to increase by 10 million the number of persons in the United States whose blood pressure is under control. Self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP) is one strategy for managing hypertension, a condition that now affects one in three American adults. This is a critical time for public health and primary care to promote tools that strengthen a system of care for treatment of chronic disease. In July 2012, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released a comparative effectiveness review that found strong evidence that SMBP plus additional clinical support is more effective than usual care in lowering blood pressure among patients with hypertension. Based on AHRQ's review, CDC staff collaborated with partners and stakeholders to develop Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring: Action Steps for Public Health Practitioners (SMBP Action Steps). SMBP Action Steps provides information, guidance, and resources to increase access to and improve the quality of care for patients with hypertension. This presentation will provide an overview of SMBP Action Steps and highlight strategies and examples that public health practitioners can use to work with payers, purchasers, providers, and the public to promote coverage for and uptake of SMBP plus additional clinical support interventions.