What’s the news: The American Heart Association (AHA) and the AMA have recognized 1,812 health care organizations—103 more than in 2023—for their outstanding efforts to prioritize blood pressure (BP) control in the patients they serve.
Target: BP™ is a national initiative created in 2015 by the AHA and AMA in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled BP. Together, the associations:
- Leverage AHA science and the evidence-based AMA MAP™ framework to help care teams organize their approach to providing evidence-based care.
- Help health care organizations in their journeys to improve and sustain BP control with professional education, practice tools and resources, including support through the associations’ quality improvement programs.
- Recognize organizations annually with achievement awards celebrating commitment to improvement, adoption of evidence-based BP care and achieving BP control rates of 70% or greater among their patients.
The organizations participating in Target: BP this year represent 47 states or U.S. territories and serve 9 million people with hypertension. Nearly half of participating organizations are federally qualified health centers, reflecting the associations’ shared commitment to improving health equity.
Among those organizations recognized for their efforts, more than half achieved gold or gold-plus award-level recognition, which requires BP-control rates of greater than or equal to 70%. About 41% of awardees achieved silver recognition, which requires BP-control data to be submitted and four out of six evidence-based BP activities to be completed.
The remainder received participation-level recognition for submitting data for the first time and committing to reducing the number of adult patients with uncontrolled BP. Access a complete list of the health care organizations recognized this year.
What doctors wish patients knew
Subscribe for the answers to the latest questions patients are bringing to the exam room.
Why it’s important: Hypertension is a leading preventable risk factor for heart disease, stroke and premature death. According to the 2024 AHA Statistical Update, nearly half of U.S. adults—122.4 million—are living with high BP. High BP accounts for more than $52 billion in annual health care costs.
“High BP is a ‘silent killer,’ often presenting no obvious symptoms,” noted Keith Churchwell, MD, AHA volunteer president, associate clinical professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and adjunct associate professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Programs like Target: BP help health care organizations and care teams work to close gaps in hypertension control.”
Since the AHA and AMA launched Target: BP in 2017, the number of health care organizations being recognized for BP-control rates of 70% or higher has grown from 185 to 1,035, outperforming the national average (43.7% in 2017–2018) and reflecting a growing nationwide movement to make heart health a priority and a reality. These health care organizations share a common goal to improve health outcomes associated with heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the U.S.
“With the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure in the U.S., it is imperative that all Americans have access to quality health care, and that all physicians and care teams have the tools they need, to help patients better control their high blood pressure,” said AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD. “We must collectively work to improve blood pressure control and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease to improve the health our nation.”
New award levels and criteria will be launched in 2025, including a new silver-plus award level and new criteria for silver-plus and gold-plus awards.
Learn more: Visit TargetBP.org to join the growing community of health care organizations committed to improving BP-control rates. You can leverage AHA science and the AMA MAP framework, find support for your quality-improvement journey and earn recognition for your commitment to improve BP control.
