Nearly half of U.S. adults are living with hypertension, which is a leading modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke and premature death. Meanwhile, the rate of people with controlled hypertension continues to drop as physicians, care team members and patients face many barriers to successfully managing hypertension.
A new collaboration aims to help change that.
Azara Healthcare—a leading provider of population-health solutions for stand-alone and networks of physician practices, community health centers, primary care associations, and health center controlled networks—will offer access to AMA MAP BP™ metrics to help health care organizations view data trends among their patient populations and use actionable reports to effectively manage patients with hypertension.
AMA MAP BP is a leading evidence-based quality improvement program that provides a clear path to significant, sustained improvements in blood pressure control. With AMA MAP BP, health care organizations can increase blood pressure-control rates quickly. The program has demonstrated a 10% increase in BP control in six months with sustained results at one year.
“Through our work with organizations such as Azara Healthcare, we will be able to expand accessibility to the AMA MAP BP program to help many more health care organizations better partner with their patients,” said AMA President Jack Resneck, Jr., MD. This will “help them avoid the deadly consequences associated with high blood pressure, and ultimately improve health outcomes for patients across the nation.”
Access key patient information
This collaboration allows health care organizations to access AMA MAP BP metrics and reports through Azara DRVS, which is a centralized, scalable data reporting and analytics platform for population health management and quality improvement. The detailed analytics of Azara DRVS allow care teams to access a more comprehensive view of their patient population. For example, it can show the socioeconomic challenges their patients are experiencing.
Combining this functionality with the AMA’s evidence-based MAP BP quality improvement program, could help produce meaningful improvement in clinical outcomes over time for all patients. The collaboration also aims to improve quality scores and streamline payment for health care organizations.
“We are very excited to collaborate with the AMA for the opportunities it provides our clients to easily access actionable data—ultimately driving quality improvement and improving health outcomes for their patients with hypertension,” said LuAnn Kimker, RN, MSN, senior vice president of clinical transformation at Azara Healthcare.
Since 2019, the AMA has worked with 46 health care organizations across 20 states to help them implement AMA MAP BP. These organizations—which include multistate health systems, accountable care organizations, federally qualified health centers and medical practices—have helped hundreds of thousands of patients with high blood pressure.
The AMA is committed to improving the health of the nation by leading the charge to prevent and reduce the burden of chronic diseases. Also, the AMA will continue to forge new collaborations and expand its efforts aimed at helping all adults meet their blood pressure goals to ensure patients live richer and fuller lives.
