Elevating Care for High Blood Pressure

To help patients manage their high blood pressure, Nashville Healthcare Center, the outpatient arm of Nashville General Hospital, is implementing a self-monitoring blood pressure program. Self-monitoring allows patients to take an active role in their hypertension care while helping health professionals better diagnose and manage the condition.

In 2017, Nashville Healthcare Center joined the American Heart Association Middle Tennessee and Nashville Health Hypertension Collaborative and enrolled in the AHA/American Medical Association initiative Target: BP™. The initiative helps health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve blood pressure control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations committed to improving blood pressure control.

In October 2021, the AHA provided equipment to establish a blood pressure self-monitoring program at Nashville Healthcare Center. Patients with uncontrolled blood pressure are given Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure devices to track their blood pressure at home while clinics can remotely monitor readings. Patients’ blood pressure information is also downloaded to their phones and added to their electronic medical records.

The program includes plans for the AHA to offer ongoing blood pressure self-monitoring training opportunities for health care professionals and patients.

Nashville General also adopted  AHA-recommended evidence-based policies and practices to improve hypertension outcomes for patients. These include calibration of an automated office blood pressure machine; requiring ongoing reporting of the percent of validated blood pressure devices; and requiring accurate measurement training for all clinical team members every 12 months and annual skills testing to include blood pressure measurement.