2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

332136
Examining the capacity, resources and momentum for the integration of primary care and public health around reducing hypertension: Lessons learned from primary care practices in Illinois and Maryland


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Kathleen A Heneghan, MPH, Improving Health Outcomes, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL
Marsha Kaufman, MSW, Improving Health Outcomes, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL
Lisa Lubomski, PhD, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Linda Murakami, RN, MHSA, Improving Health Outcomes, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL
Erin Kirley, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Romsai Tony Boonyasai, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Background: The greatest challenges to the health of the nation and sustainability of the health care system are the prevention and management of common, chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease. One in every three American adults has hypertension. At the American Medical Association (AMA) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine, we are tackling uncontrolled hypertension and in 2014 worked with 10 diverse clinical sites to help us develop and test a framework titled  "M.A.P. for achieving optimal hypertension control: Measuring blood pressure accurately, every time it's measured: Acting rapidly to address high blood pressure readings; and Partnering with patients, families and communities to promote self-management. We partnered with clinical practices to understand what factors were necessary to establish successful clinical-community linkages.

Study Purpose: To explore how primary care providers collaborate with community-based organizations and public health agencies and identify ways to develop, strengthen and sustain clinical-community relationships and referrals to support hypertension patients.

Methods: All ten sites completed the semi-structured qualitative telephone interview in March 2014.  Individuals were selected by the physician champion at each site to participate based on their knowledge of community resources and office procedures around referrals.

 Results: Preliminary results from our study reflect variations in practices’ relationships and communication with community organizations and confidence in referring patients to outside programs for hypertension management. Lack of availability and knowledge of community programs, time constraints and financial barriers were primary reasons why some sites chose not engage community or public health partners.

Conclusion:  Linkages with blood pressure control and management resources and programs in the community varied and are not widely reported by our selected practices.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Identify opportunities to strengthen relationships between primary care, public health and community resources around hypertension; Increase awareness about primary care providers’ perceptions of public health and chronic disease programs; Describe tactics for primary care and public health to collaborate

Keyword(s): Chronic Disease Management and Care, Partnerships

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Katy Heneghan, is the Project Manager for Improving Health Outcomes Collaborations. In this role, she is responsible for developing and implementing a strategy for the hypertension community model. She also identifies opportunities to engage and coordinate with public and private organizations for the IHO work. Prior to joining the AMA, she worked at Rhode Island Department of Health, focusing on strategic planning and building effective collaborations among internal and external chronic disease and prevention partners.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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