DER Reference Model Version 1.0.0
ecqm.measure

CMS65v8 - Hypertension: Improvement in Blood Pressure

Rationale:

Hypertension: Improvement in Blood Pressure. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a very common and dangerous condition that increases risk for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death for Americans (Farley et al., 2010). Compared with other dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors, high blood pressure is the leading cause of death in women and the second-leading cause of death in men, behind smoking (Danaei et al., 2011). Approximately 1 in 3 U.S. adults, or about 70 million people, have high blood pressure but only about half (52%) of these people have their high blood pressure under control. Additionally, data from NHANES 2011 to 2012 found that 17.2% of U.S. adults are not aware they have hypertension (Nwankwo et al., 2013). Projections show that by 2030, approximately 41.4% of US adults will have hypertension, an increase of 8.4% from 2012 estimates (Heidenreich et al., 2011). The estimated direct and indirect cost of high blood pressure for 2011 is $46.4 billion. This total includes direct costs such as the cost of physicians and other health professionals, hospital services, prescribed medications and home health care, as well as indirect costs due to loss of productivity from premature mortality (Mozaffarian et al., 2015). Projections show that by 2030, the total cost of high blood pressure could increase to an estimated $274 billion (Heidenreich et al., 2011). Better control of blood pressure has been shown to significantly reduce the probability that undesirable and costly outcomes will occur. In clinical trials, antihypertensive therapy has been associated with reductions in stroke incidence (35-40%), myocardial infarction (20-25%) and heart failure (>50%) (Chobanian et al., 2003). Thus, the relationship between the measure (control of hypertension) and the long-term clinical outcomes listed is well established.