Improving Hypertension Control through Public Health and Primary Care Collaboration

The partners of the Million Hearts Learning Collaborative included the Minnesota Department of Health, Healthy Northland and 4 primary clinics. The collaborative worked in four Northeastern Minnesota clinics to improve best practices around hypertension care. Collaborative partners learned to: 1. use aggregated NQF 0018 - controlling High Blood Pressure data to improve population health outcomes by providing feedback to providers. We will share the aggregated pre-post data results; 2. make changes to clinic flow policies and procedures to improve diagnosing and treatment of hypertension. We will share successful policy changes; 3. activate patients in self-management through non-physician team members including health coaches. We will describe the health coach role and non-physician providers types that can be in this role such as health education specialists, community health workers, community paramedics and community pharmacists; and 4. use home blood pressure monitoring program. Each clinic received home blood pressure monitors to lend out throughout this program. We will review the procedures, protocols and best practices developed by the clinics. Finally will will describe the role of each of the clinical-community partners which included a state health department, a local public health agency and primary care clinics.