Preventing heart disease

• One in 3 American adults has high blood pressure.
• Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States.

The AMA and the AHA have partnered on Target: BP™, an initiative that works to reduce the number of Americans who suffer heart attacks and strokes by urging physicians and care teams to prioritize blood pressure control.

Target: BP is the go-to source for information and guidance on how to improve blood pressure control rates and recognizes practices for their commitment to this effort.

Target: BP™ is a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP). Committed to advancing health equity, Target:BP aims to support health care organizations (HCOs) in their education and quality improvement journey to improve BP control practices and rates, recognize HCOs for their commitment to evidence-based practice adoption and achievement of BP control rates at or above 70%, and advocate for policy changes that better align patient coverage and provider reimbursement with hypertension science at the federal, state, local and institutional levels. Target: BP emphasizes adoption of team-based care models and prioritizing equitable health outcomes.

It's estimated that 46% of adults in the United States have high blood pressure and less than half have their BP under control, increasing their risk for heart attack, stroke and death. Target: BP helps health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve BP control rates with professional education, QI resources, and practice tools that leverage the AMA MAP™ framework, a practical guide to improve health outcomes. The AMA MAP framework refers to:

• Measure Accurately to obtain accurate, actionable data to diagnose hypertension and assess BP control
• Act Rapidly to initiate and/or intensify evidence-based treatment
• Partner with Patients to support patient activation to monitor their BP and improve adherence to treatment

Reduce diagnostic uncertainty

• Measure office BP accurately.
• Confirm office BP using out-of-office BP measurements (24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or self-measured blood pressure monitoring).
• Use an EHR to identify patients with undiagnosed or undertreated hypertension.

Reduce therapeutic inertia

• Use an evidence-based treatment protocol.
• Prescribe single-pill combination therapy where appropriate.
• Follow up frequently with patients.

Decrease treatment nonadherence

• Foster shared decision making between health care providers and patients to set goals.
• Prioritize patients at the greatest risk with poor BP control.
• Leverage evidence-based use of self-measured blood pressure (SMBP).

There are three complementary options for HCOs to engage with Target: BP, AHA and AMA:

1. HCOs can choose a self-guided version using web-based tools and education events and then submit their data for annual recognition.
2. HCOs can engage with their local AHA community impact team members who facilitate assessment, learning, data submission, provide additional local resources when possible, and support sustainable connections to the community.
3. HCOs can work with the AMA IHO team of experts to implement the MAP framework complete with metrics, suite of tools and resources and get expert one-on-one training on implementation and best practices.

An important part of the Target: BP program is recognizing organizations who have made a commitment to improving blood pressure control. The Target: BP Recognition Program celebrates those that are committed to reducing the number of adult patients with uncontrolled BP, the adoption of evidence-based BP activities and for achieving BP control rates at or above 70 percent.

In 2022, nearly 1,300 organizations serving 8.4 million patients with hypertension across 39 states that demonstrated their commitment to improving blood pressure control rates by submitting data to the 2022 Target: BP Recognition Program, 675 of which affirmed performance of evidence-based BP measurement activities and 551 of which reported BP control rates ≥70% evidence-based use of self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring.

Visit Target: BP for more information.