AdministrativeCommercialApril 30, 2022

May is national high blood pressure education month: We’ve got this!

Beginning January 1, 2024, Empire became Anthem. This article, published under the former brand, now applies to Anthem.



Many resources are available for health professionals to support hypertension prevention and management and educate others. To support that effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention has put together these sets of educational materials for health professionals and patients:

 

Visit the Million Hearts® website for more resources designed for health professionals. Million Hearts® is a national initiative co-led by CDC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Million Hearts® aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes within five years.

 

Measure Up: Controlling High Blood Pressure (CBP) HEDIS® measure

The HEDIS measure Controlling High Blood Pressure (CBP) assesses adults ages 18–85 with a diagnosis of hypertension and whose blood pressure was properly controlled based on the following criteria:

  • Adults 18–59 years of age whose blood pressure was <140/90 mm Hg
  • Adults 60–85 years of age, with a diagnosis of diabetes, whose blood pressure was <140/90 mm Hg
  • Adults 60–85 years of age, without a diagnosis of diabetes, whose blood pressure was <150/90 mm Hg

 

Patient claims should include one systolic reading and one diastolic reading:

CPT II Code

Most recent systolic blood pressure

3074F

<130 mm Hg

3075F

130-139 mm Hg

3077F

≥ 140 mm Hg

CPT II Code

Most recent diastolic blood pressure

3078F

<80 mm Hg

3079F

80-89 mm Hg

3080F

≥ 90 mm Hg

 

When charting your patient’s blood pressure readings, in addition to the systolic and diastolic readings, and dates, if the patient has an elevated blood pressure, but does not have hypertension, note the reason for follow-up.

 

Additional tips for talking to patients:

  • Continue to educate patients about the risks of hypertension
  • Encourage weight loss, regular exercise and diet
  • Advise patients who are smoking to quit
  • Talk about chronic stress and ways to cope with it in a healthy way

 

HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

 

Resource: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/educational_materials.htm

 

2185-0522-PN-NY

 

PUBLICATIONS: May 2022 Newsletter