Kaiser Permanente Georgia Named 2015 Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion

News provided by

May 13, 2016, 09:00 ET

ATLANTA, May 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has named Kaiser Permanente Georgia as a 2015 Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion for the health care organization's success in helping patients control high blood pressure.

"Thanks to our electronic medical record, evidence-based medicine and most importantly, the efforts of our clinicians and staff, we are able to help our members live longer, healthier lives by reducing their risk for heart attacks and strokes," said Mary L. Wilson, MD, MPH, executive medical director of Kaiser Permanente Georgia. Dr. Wilson leads the Southeast Permanente Medical Group, which cares exclusively for Kaiser Permanente members in Georgia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the major operating divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, launched the Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge to recognize health care professionals/practices that achieve blood pressure control rates at or above 70 percent in their adult patients with hypertension. Kaiser Permanente Georgia was one of 18 champions recognized nationwide.

Kaiser Permanente Georgia achieved hypertension control rates of 82.08 percent and 88.40 percent for its Commercial HMO and Medicare members, respectively, in 2015 (performance year 2014). These rates are well above the 90th percentile of 75.13 percent for Commercial HMO and 82.73 percent for Medicare, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, known as HEDIS®.

According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 3 American adults has hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Fewer than half of those have it under control, putting them at greater risk of developing heart disease or stroke — two of the leading causes of death in the U.S.

"Clinicians are our first line of defense against the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by high blood pressure each year," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH. "We applaud the 2015 Champions and hope other health care teams learn from these successes and save even more lives."

In its fourth year, Million Hearts® is a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Previous Million Hearts® champions include Kaiser Permanente Southern California (2014), Kaiser Permanente Northern California (2013) and Kaiser Permanente Colorado (2012).

To learn more about the Million Hearts® Campaign and see the complete list of recipients, please visit http://millionhearts.hhs.gov.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10.6 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

For more information:
Marc Brown 510-271-6328
[email protected]
Jim Driscoll 404-949-5187
[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130718/SF49717LOGO

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente