11.20.19
Getting your blood
pressure checked is a familiar experience at the doctor’s office, but recent
research suggests that it may not always be accurate.
According to the
American Heart Association (AHA), nearly half of all U.S. adults have high
blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and
preventable death. Accurate measurement of a patient’s blood pressure is
vital to providing accurate diagnoses and quality care.1
Given the importance of
accurate blood pressure readings, clinical guidelines recommend that health
care providers be periodically re-trained on proper BP measurement; however,
recent market research conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) and
the AHA indicated this may not always be the case.
Based on this research,
the AMA and AHA partnered with MinuteClinic, along with a leading health care
organization and leading academic medical centers, to test a new e-learning
module. The module, called Achieving Accuracy: BP Measurement, was designed to
provide all front-line health care providers with access to consistent training
on proper BP measurement and is now available for health care professionals
through the AHA.
In the survey of more
than two thousand health care providers, half of the physicians and physician
assistants (PAs) who responded, and a third of nurse respondents, said they had
not received BP measurement re-training since their initial training in school.
However, there seems to be broad support among the survey respondents for BP
refresher training, with three-quarters or more of the nurses, PAs, primary
care providers and pharmacists surveyed noting that it should be required.
Some common BP
measurement errors that can result in pushing a patient’s diagnosis from normal
to elevated, include:
·
Taking a reading while a
patient is sitting with their legs crossed, which can raise systolic pressure
by 5 to 8 mm Hg2
·
Using the wrong cuff
size, which can raise systolic pressure by approximately 10 mm Hg3
“Being able to test this
new BP measurement re-training module with our providers on the front lines
reinforces our long-standing commitment to advancing heart health and providing
high quality care for our patients,” said David Fairchild, M.D., Chief Medical
Officer, MinuteClinic. “Our providers appreciated the opportunity to be
involved in this effort and we look forward to integrating this training into
our clinical standards moving forward.”
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