The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women worldwide have hypertension, a known risk factor for heart attack and stroke and a major cause of premature death. Yet less than half of patients with this condition are diagnosed and treated. The statistics are equally grim for high cholesterol: The American Heart Association (AHA) reports 4.51 million deaths attributable to low-density lipoproteins (LDL-C) in 2020, despite blood cholesterol management guidelines issued by the AHA in 2013 and updated in 2018.
Premier cardiologists committed to reducing cardiovascular disease and improving patient care can benefit from meeting or exceeding the AHA’s goals for hypertension and cholesterol treatment. Joining a cardiovascular platform that provides access to advanced technology and support can help your cardiology practice achieve these critical targets.
The Origin of Hypertension and Cholesterol Treatment Targets
In response to the growing prevalence of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the AHA created two programs that establish target goals associated with diagnosing and treating these conditions.
Target: BP™, created jointly by the AHA and the American Medical Association (AMA), provides guidelines, evidence-based protocols, and resources to help providers improve blood pressure control. It’s based on a framework called MAP:
- Measure Accurately: Ensuring providers obtain accurate blood pressure measurements for use in hypertension diagnosis.
- Act Rapidly: Encouraging providers to initiate treatment quickly when warranted.
- Partner with Patients: Equipping patients to self-manage their condition and adhere to the treatment plan.
In addition to these guidelines, Target: BP encourages healthcare providers to enhance their care practices by incorporating evidence-based activities within the MAP framework, along with two additional pillars: self-measured blood pressure and equitable health outcomes. For example, evidence-based activities in the “Measure Accurately” pillar include properly calibrating blood pressure measurement devices per manufacturer recommendations and testing the staff’s blood pressure measurement knowledge every 6-12 months, among others.
Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol™ was launched by the AHA to improve cholesterol identification and management, using statin treatment where appropriate. Several scientific studies have associated statin use with better health outcomes, including a 2022 review by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) which concluded that statin therapy as a primary form of prevention is associated with lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in adults with increased risk but no prior CVD events.
Despite results like these, a longitudinal study found that statin use had remained largely unchanged following the AHA’s 2013 guidelines, with average monthly LDL-C mostly stagnant. Such results revealed a significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes through the effective use of statins in appropriate cases. As part of its mandate to improve high cholesterol awareness, detection, and management, the Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol program equips healthcare providers with evidence-based information and resources to help them treat cholesterol effectively.
CVL Practices Meet or Exceed Industry Targets
Both the Target: BP and Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol programs recognize providers that meet performance criteria associated with hypertension or cholesterol treatment. For both programs, CVL practices have led the way with results that exceed industry averages.
Exceeding Hypertension Targets Year After Year
Based on data from several CVL practices, our platform earned the Target: BP Gold+ award—the highest level—in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and we’re on track for this honor in 2024. The Gold+ criteria include meeting the AHA blood pressure goal of establishing a hypertension control rate of at least 70 percent in patients aged 18 to 85 (excluding those in end-stage renal disease, on dialysis, or pregnant) and demonstrating achievement of at least four award criteria across multiple pillars. Controlled hypertension is defined as less than 140/90mmhg.
CVL far exceeded the minimum requirements for the Gold+ award, with a control rate of 85 percent in 2023 and 2022. By surpassing the 80 percent mark, we were one of a few select practices named a Million Heart Challenge Champion for the past two years. CVL practices achieved Gold level in 2018, 2019, and 2020, with our evolution to Gold+ demonstrating an unwavering focus on continuous improvement.
Surpassing Cholesterol Targets Consistently
CVL is also a top performer in the Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol recognition program, which acknowledges practices and systems that manage cholesterol in at-risk patients. CVL earned the Gold award (the program’s highest level) in 2022 and 2023 and is well on track to earn this distinction in 2024. Our participating practices far exceeded the AHA cholesterol goal of at least 70 percent of adult, at-risk patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) appropriately managing their condition with statin therapy (based on MIPS measure #438).
A Patient-Centric Platform Can Help Attain These Targets
The AHA’s target goals for blood pressure and cholesterol management can serve as ideal benchmarks for cardiologists to strive toward. And as CVL practices have discovered, the support of an established cardiovascular platform can help make these goals more attainable.
As the nation’s leading cardiovascular platform, our mission is to provide our patients with the highest quality cardiovascular care available. By providing the capital to invest in the latest diagnostic and treatment technologies, offering access to expanded patient data sets to develop clinical pathways, and facilitating knowledge sharing among top-tier cardiologists, CVL provides the support leading practices need to exceed industry standards and improve health outcomes.
Our practices focus on providing the full continuum of care, from office-based labs and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to intensive cardiac rehab, lipid clinics, vein treatment programs, and many other services. And they’re among the first in their regions and the country to apply the most advanced innovations—like the FDA-approved Esprit™ BTK (Below the Knee) Everolimus Eluting Resorbable Scaffold System and the percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloon for treating vascular disease in the legs, for example.
By joining a platform that provides access to advanced technology and other resources, your practice can meet or exceed objectives like the AHA targets for blood pressure and cholesterol management and improve patient care.
Contact CVL to discover how partnering with our platform can enhance your technology foundation and help you meet or surpass the AHA’s target goals.