TY - JOUR
T1 - Hypertension control among patients followed by cardiologists
AU - Navar-Boggan, Ann Marie
AU - Boggan, Joel C.
AU - Stafford, Judith A.
AU - Muhlbaier, Lawrence H.
AU - McCarver, Catherine
AU - Peterson, Eric D.
PY - 2012/5
Y1 - 2012/5
N2 - Background-Hypertension control is an important and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The overall rate of hypertension control among patients followed in cardiology clinics, as well as clinician variability in control rates, is unknown. Methods and Results-We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with hypertension (n=5979) routinely followed in a cardiology clinic (n=47 physicians). Overall, 30.3% of patients with hypertension had suboptimal control (blood pressure [BP] =140/90 mm Hg) at the end of a 13-month follow-up period. Patient-level factors associated with control were younger age, male sex, white ethnicity, having a primary care provider at Duke, private insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, and comorbid diagnoses of heart failure or coronary artery disease. Unadjusted rates of suboptimal BP control among clinicians' clinic patient panels ranged from 16% to 44%. Even after adjusting for patient factors, patients' odds of BP control varied 6-fold, depending on their treating clinician. Using a patient's average BP rather than their most recent BP did not result in significant changes in provider performance. In chart reviews (n=300), clinicians failed to document a plan to address hypertension in 38% of patients with elevated BP in the clinic. Conclusions-Up to one-third of patients followed routinely by cardiologists in clinic have suboptimally controlled BP, with wide variability in performance across individual clinicians. This variability, alongside evidence that elevated BP is often not acted on during clinic visits, demonstrates a potential opportunity for quality improvement.
AB - Background-Hypertension control is an important and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The overall rate of hypertension control among patients followed in cardiology clinics, as well as clinician variability in control rates, is unknown. Methods and Results-We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with hypertension (n=5979) routinely followed in a cardiology clinic (n=47 physicians). Overall, 30.3% of patients with hypertension had suboptimal control (blood pressure [BP] =140/90 mm Hg) at the end of a 13-month follow-up period. Patient-level factors associated with control were younger age, male sex, white ethnicity, having a primary care provider at Duke, private insurance, Medicare/Medicaid, and comorbid diagnoses of heart failure or coronary artery disease. Unadjusted rates of suboptimal BP control among clinicians' clinic patient panels ranged from 16% to 44%. Even after adjusting for patient factors, patients' odds of BP control varied 6-fold, depending on their treating clinician. Using a patient's average BP rather than their most recent BP did not result in significant changes in provider performance. In chart reviews (n=300), clinicians failed to document a plan to address hypertension in 38% of patients with elevated BP in the clinic. Conclusions-Up to one-third of patients followed routinely by cardiologists in clinic have suboptimally controlled BP, with wide variability in performance across individual clinicians. This variability, alongside evidence that elevated BP is often not acted on during clinic visits, demonstrates a potential opportunity for quality improvement.
KW - Hypertension
KW - Performance measures
KW - Provider performance
KW - Quality improvement
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U2 - 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.111.963488
DO - 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.111.963488
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22550131
AN - SCOPUS:84864592015
SN - 1941-7713
VL - 5
SP - 352
EP - 357
JO - Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes
JF - Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes
IS - 3
ER -