The American Heart Association and American Medical Association celebrate more than 1,800 physician practices and health systems committed to blood pressure control

October 9, 2024, Dallas — The American Heart Association and American Medical Association (AMA) are nationally recognizing 1,812 health care organizations — 103 more than in 2023 — for their efforts to prioritize control of their patients’ blood pressure (BP) at a time when uncontrolled hypertension is on the rise in the US.

One of the main avoidable risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and early mortality is hypertension or high blood pressure. 122.4 million adults in the United States, or about half of the population, have high blood pressure, according to the 2024 American Heart Association Statistical Update. An annual expenditure of almost $52 billion is attributed to high blood pressure.

The American Heart Association and American Medical Association launched the nationwide Target: BPTM effort in 2015 in response to the rising rate of uncontrolled blood pressure. Collectively, the correlations:

• leverage American Heart Association science and the evidence-based AMA MAP™ framework to help care teams organize their approach to providing evidence-based care;
• assist and support healthcare organizations to improve and sustain BP control with professional education, practice tools, and resources, including support through the associations’ quality improvement programs; and
• recognize organizations annually with achievement awards celebrating commitment to improvement, adopting evidence-based BP care, and achieving BP control rates of 70% or greater among their patients.

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This year’s Target: BP partner organizations serve over 34 million patients, including 9 million individuals with hypertension, and are based in 47 states or U.S. territories. Representing the associations’ common goal of enhancing health equity, over half of the member organizations are nonprofit health centers that are eligible to receive federal financing to serve medically underserved groups. These facilities are known as federally qualified health centers.

More than half of the organizations that received recognition for their efforts did so at the Gold or Gold+ award level, which calls for BP control rates of at least 70%. A little over 41% of recipients received Silver recognition, which calls for the submission of BP control data and the completion of 4 of the 6 evidence-based BP tasks. For their first-time data submission and dedication to lowering the proportion of adult patients with uncontrolled blood pressure, the remaining patients were recognized at the Participation level.

“High BP is a ‘silent killer,’ often presenting no obvious symptoms,” said Keith Churchwell,  M.D., FAHA, American Heart Association volunteer president, associate clinical professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and adjunct associate professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. “Programs like Target: BP help health care organizations and care teams work to close gaps in hypertension control through patient awareness and education on managing risk factors, such as lifestyle choices and family history, and improving overall well-being.”

Since the American Heart Association and American Medical Association launched Target: BPTM in 2017, more than 4,150 healthcare organizations have joined the national effort to prioritize heart health. This movement aims to improve health outcomes related to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

“With the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure in the U.S., it is imperative that all Americans have access to quality health care, and that all physicians and care teams have the tools they need, to help patients better control their high blood pressure,” said AMA President Bruce A. Scott, M.D. “We must collectively work to improve blood pressure control and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease to improve the health of our nation.”

New award levels and criteria will be launched in 2025, including a new Silver+ award level and new criteria for Silver+ and Gold+ awards.

More information about Target: BP can be found at TargetBP.org and a list of recognized organizations can be found here (PDF).