Team-based care helpful for hypertension patients
Prescriptions and recommending lifestyle changes aren’t the most effective ways to treat patients with high blood pressure. One San Antonio clinic has found greater success with a team-based strategy.
According to Texas Public Radio, at one point, more than half the patients visiting University Family Health Center Southeast had uncontrolled hypertension. Then the clinic started organizing care teams with pharmacists and physicians and some help from the American Heart Association, which provided blood pressure cuffs for patients to take home.
“It's not just medications that are required to treat hypertension," explains Kirk Evoy, PharmD, a pharmacist at the clinic and clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. "It's also things like lifestyle changes," he says. "What do you eat? Do you exercise? Do you smoke?"
Now, some 70 percent of patients have their blood pressure under control, and more than $2 million has been saved by reducing inpatient and emergency department visits.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.