Improved hypertension control using a surveillance system in a neighborhood health center

Donald A. Smith, Peter L. Schnall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Health Center has developed a simple inexpensive McBee Card Surveillance System for following approximately 2,000 registered patients with hypertension. The system has been in use for the past two years by three health teams. On a quarterly basis teams and physicians are given reports on the percentage of their hypertensive patients with controlled blood pressure (bp) (bp ≤ 140/90 for patients younger than 50; bp ≤ 160/95 for 50 or older). In addition, patients not seen in the past 4 months are identified for follow-up by family health workers. During the 2-year period that the system has been in operation, the three teams have increased their percentage of patients under control by 50 percent. Of 929 patients with hypertension, 411 were controlled at the inception of the study and 617 were controlled 2 years later. Such a simple surveillance and self-evaluation system is readily applicable to all ambulatory care settings.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)766-774
Number of pages9
JournalMedical Care
Volume18
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1980
Externally publishedYes

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