Success Story: Target: BP™ Initiative
“Through collective dedication to evidence-driven practices and consistent care, we achieved system-wide blood pressure control. Our journey is a testament that when purpose aligns with persistence, the health of our community thrives.”
-Vinod M. Nair, MD, interventional cardiologist, Cardiovascular Institute of the South
Target: BP™ is a national blood pressure control initiative from the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association (AMA) that supports health care organizations in their journey to improve quality of care.
Target: BP awards organizations for their commitment to achieving control rates of 70% or higher. More than 1,800 organizations serving 8.4 million patients with hypertension participated in Target: BP’s 2023 Recognition Program.
Several Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champions have reported using resources from Target: BP, including 2022 Hypertension Control Champions, Cardiovascular Institute of the South in Louisiana and Mississippi and Norton Sound Health Corporation in Alaska.
A Focus on Blood Pressure Control
Organizations that register with Target: BP acknowledge their commitment to improving hypertension control, gain access to professional educational tools and resources, and participate in Target: BP’s annual recognition program.
By submitting data through an online platform, organizations can see their progress and benchmark against comparable groups of similar size, type, or geography, including state and national groups.
The Target: BP website features a self-guided pathway that enables organizations to systematically assess their practice, leveraging the AMA MAP™ framework, a practical 3-part approach designed to help organizations Measure Accurately, Act Rapidly and Partner with Patients. Resources include assessment tools to find areas for improvement, regular educational events, patient resources, monthly newsletters, and hypertension-related policy.
The Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) has 18 sites across Louisiana and one in Mississippi. When they first participated in Target: BP’s Recognition Program, CIS compared their hypertension control data to other organizations in Louisiana and across the United States. This comparison served as motivation to improve their performance, spurring new and redesigned trainings for nurses on best practices for measuring blood pressure and a new policy to standardize blood pressure management care processes clinic-wide. Their new policy included waiting to take the patient’s blood pressure until the heart rate has returned to resting, repeating blood pressure measurements if initial readings are high, and documenting care plans to address elevated readings that included a scheduled follow-up visit.
CIS prominently displayed the Target: BP In-Office Blood Pressure Measurement infographic poster in patient areas to remind staff and to educate patients who record self-measured blood pressure readings. They also attended Target: BP educational webinars and translated the knowledge shared to their staff through presentations at monthly meetings.
Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC), in Nome, Alaska, also used the Target: BP infographic posters and online trainings to better serve 16 communities located in geographically-remote regions (see Success Story: Hypertension Control Innovation in Rural Settings). NSHC has also incorporated Target: BP materials in their own employee learning system.
Congratulations!
We appreciate and applaud our nation’s champions, Cardiovascular Institute of the South and Norton Sound Health Corporation, for their dedication to their patients and perseverance in working toward our shared goal of preventing heart attacks and strokes by achieving exemplar blood pressure control rates.
We also extend our gratitude to Target: BP for supporting organizations in their blood pressure control journey. Through quality improvement resources, recognition, and policy, the commitment and collaboration of partners, such as the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association through Target: BP, make improvements in hypertension control possible.