Hypertension
Steering Toward Health is a multi-year initiative that focuses on the prevention of chronic diseases, and helping patients manage hypertension is an important area of emphasis. One of the most effective ways to diagnose and then help patients manage hypertension is through self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring, which is the regular measurement of blood pressure (BP) by a patient outside the clinical setting, most often at home.
Research shows that office blood pressure readings are often elevated, so giving patients the option to monitor blood pressure from a comfortable setting provides a set of readings the healthcare team can monitor, average and assess. Working together with the healthcare team, at-risk patients can learn how to measure and record blood pressure through this evidence-based practice. For clinicians, educating patients saves valuable clinic time as well.
Below you will find toolkit resources for both the healthcare team and the patient. These materials were developed by and are adopted from Target: BP™, a national initiative developed to help improve BP control rates by the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association.