Top Things to Know: 2019 AHA/ACC Clinical Performance and Quality Measures for Adults With High Blood Pressure
Published: November 12, 2019
- Not correctly diagnosing or controlling high blood pressure (HBP) can lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and renal failure. Recent data indicates more than 100 million Americans currently have HBP; of those taking antihypertensive medications, about 53% have uncontrolled blood pressure (BP).
- The writing committee developed a comprehensive measure set for the diagnosis and treatment of HBP that includes 22 new measures: six performance measures (PMs), six “process” quality measures, and 10 “structural” quality measures.
- PMs are developed from Class I Recommendations (CORs) and from Level A or B levels of evidence (LOEs), which means the strongest recommendations are based on the highest quality of evidence. Quality measures are developed based on lower levels of CORs and LOEs.
- Performance measures (PM) are mostly designed to be considered for use in national quality payment and reporting programs by entities such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
- Two PMs address the ACC/AHA stage 2 HBP control for systolic BP <140 mmHg (1a) and for stage 2 HBP control for SBP <130mmHg (1b).
- One PM addresses the ACC/AHA stage 1 HBP control for systolic BP <130 mm Hg.
- One PM addresses the ACC/AHA stage 2 and stage 1 HBP control SBP <130 mm Hg (a composite measure combining PM-1b and PM-2).
- One PM addresses nonpharmacological interventions for ACC/AHA stage 2 HBP.
- One PM addresses the use of home blood pressure monitoring for the management of ACC/AHA stage 2 HBP.
- PMs are intended to aid clinicians in delivering the most current, evidence-based care to patients for the control of HBP.
Citation
The American Heart Association requests that this document be cited as follows: Casey DE Jr, Thomas RJ, Bhalla V, Commodore-Mensah Y, Heidenreich PA, Kolte D, Muntner P, Smith SC Jr, Spertus JA, Windle JR, Wozniak GD, Ziaeian B. 2019 AHA/ACC clinical performance and quality measures for adults with high blood pressure: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Performance Measures. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2019;12:e000057. doi: 10.1161/HCQ.0000000000000057.