Neighborhood Health Center has earned national recognition for its efforts to reduce the number of patients with uncontrolled blood pressure. The American Heart Association and American Medical Association presented the Target: BP Silver Award to Neighborhood to commend Neighborhood’s commitment to prioritizing blood pressure control. The Silver Award recognizes practices that have demonstrated a commitment to improving blood pressure control through measurement accuracy.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a leading risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and preventable death in the U.S. There are 121.5 million U.S. adults living with hypertension. This is nearly half of all adults in the country. Unfortunately, less than half of them have their blood pressure under control, making both diagnosis and effective management critical. In the U.S., heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death, respectively, and stroke is a leading cause of disability.

One example of a step Neighborhood has taken to address blood pressure management is the use an American Heart Association grant to purchase blood pressure kits for patients who can benefit from being able to check their blood pressure at home. Another example is Neighborhood’s integration of nutrition services into its hypertension care by connecting patients with Neighborhood’s in-house team of registered dieticians. 

“By committing to helping more people in Buffalo control their blood pressure and reduce their risks for future heart disease and stroke, Neighborhood Health Center is taking a key step to helping more people live longer, healthier lives,” said Howard Haft, M.D., MMM, CPE, FACPE, volunteer expert for the AHA and executive director of the Maryland Primary Care Program, in Baltimore. “Neighborhood’s participation in the Target: BP initiative shows its dedication to turning clinical guidelines into lifelines for patients and their families.”

Target: BP is a national collaboration between the American Heart Association and American Medical Association aimed at reducing the number of adults in the U.S. who suffer from heart attacks and strokes each year by urging physician practices, health systems and patients to prioritize BP control. The initiative aims to help health care organizations improve blood pressure control rates using evidence-based protocols.