During American Heart Month, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last week released a special spotlight issue that shines a light on hypertension issues in today’s clinical environment.
Included in the issue are studies and editorials that cover such topics as high blood pressure and heart disease risks, the ramifications of heart scar tissue and patient-centered approaches to preventing cardiovascular disease.
One viewpoint analyzes the use of new guidelines released by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association in 2013 to detect, evaluate and treat high cholesterol. The article provides case studies for guideline application best practices.
The viewpoint found that patient-centered use of the guidelines will require the following:
- Implementation of accurate 10-year cardiovascular disease risk calculators
- Evidence-based decision-making tools and decision aids to guide discussion of the individualized pros and cons of statins and other interventions with patients
- Measures that reward efforts to engage patients in shared decision-making
In an effort to address cardiovascular disease, the AMA has collaborated through its Improving Health Outcomes initiative with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and the Johns Hopkins Center to Eliminate Cardiovascular Health Disparities.
Physician participants in the initiative’s hypertension pilot program are working with national safety experts to apply proven patient safety principles from the acute care setting to care in the ambulatory setting for treating and monitoring patients with high blood pressure.
The AMA initiative also has a second pilot program focused on preventing type 2 diabetes in patients at high risk for this condition.
