Clinical Guidance
Hypertension is a leading cause of death worldwide.* In the U.S., hypertension affects approximately 32% of adults** and costs between $131 and $198 billion annually, including costs of medications, health care services, and loss of productivity from premature death.*** Family physicians play a critical role in diagnosing, monitoring, and treating hypertension.
Blood Pressure Targets in Adults with Hypertension: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the AAFP
Coding & Payment: How to Support Chronic Care Management Services
AAFP Chronic Care Management Toolkit
Coordinated Care and Care Management Tools and Resources
Coding for Hypertension: Painting a Picture of the Severity of Illness
Controlling Hypertension: Focusing on “Why” Makes “How” a Lot Easier
Implementing Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Primary Care Practice
Quality Measures: Identify Opportunities to Improve Patient Care
The AAFP in conjunction with the Core Quality Measure Collaborative promotes measure harmonization across programs and payers. Listed here are the measures currently selected by the CQMC ACO/PCMH/Primary Care Workgroup to evaluate hypertension in the primary care setting.
| Hypertension Quality Measures | |||
| NQF # 0018 | Controlling High Blood Pressure |
National Committee for Quality Assurance | eCQM available* Telehealth eligible |
| NQF # 0061 | Comprehensive Diabetes Care: Blood Pressure Control (<140/90 mm Hg) | National Committee for Quality Assurance |
eCQM available* Telehealth eligible
|
Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Family Practice
Lifestyle medicine focuses on five main domains: connectedness, movement, nutrition, recovery, and substance use. When addressing all domains together, lifestyle medicine can address multiple chronic diseases simultaneously.
The Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package (HPCP) presents an evidence-informed listing of process improvements with accompanying tools and resources that outpatient clinicians and care team members can implement as they provide care to pregnant and postpartum women and women of reproductive age with a focus on early identification, optimal management, and prevention of complications of hypertension in pregnancy.
The CDC is looking for family physicians who are using or planning to use any of the interventions in this guide. If you plan to do so, please email MillionHeartsHPAF@cdc.gov and include "AAFP member HPCP commitment" in the subject line.
The AAFP strongly recommends clinicians treat adults who have hypertension to a standard blood pressure target (less than 140/90 mm Hg)
to reduce the risk of all cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Clinican Education
Continuing Medical Education
View applicable courses in:
AAFP CME Hypertension
AFP Journal
AFP By Topic: Hypertension
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: High Blood Pressure
CDC Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package
CDC Million Hearts Hypertension Control Change Package
U.S. National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus: High Blood Pressure
U.S. National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus: Blood Pressure Medicines
* Forouzanfar MH, Liu P, Roth GA, et al. Global burden of hypertension and systolic blood pressure of at least 110 to 115mmHg, 1990-2015. JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association. 2017;317(2):165-182. doi:10.1001/JAMA.2016.19043
** Muntner P, Carey RM, Gidding S, et al. Potential US Population Impact of the 2017 ACC/AHA High Blood Pressure Guideline. Circulation. 2018;137(2):109-118. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032582
*** Kirkland EB, Heincelman M, Bishu KG, et al. Trends in Healthcare Expenditures Among US Adults With Hypertension: National Estimates, 2003-2014. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2018;7(11). doi:10.1161/JAHA.118.008731
**** Coles, S, Fisher L, Lin K, Lyon C, Vosooney A, Bird MD. Blood Pressure Targets in Adults with Hypertension: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American Academy of Family Physicians. American Family Physician. November 14, 2022. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/journals/afp/AAFPHypertensionGuideline.pdf