A Hypertension Emergency Department Intervention Aimed at Decreasing Disparities

Effective interventions to address uncontrolled hypertension (HTN), particularly in underrepresented populations that use the emergency department (ED) for primary care, are critically needed. Uncontrolled HTN, which contributes significantly to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, is more frequently encountered among patients presenting to the ED. EDs serve as the point of entry into the health care system for many high-risk patient populations, particularly minority and low-income individuals. Our preliminary data from a largely minority patient population presenting to the ED shows significant rates of subclinical heart disease (diastolic dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy) in patients with elevated blood pressure (BP). These early echocardiogram changes are reversible with existing strategies for improving BP control.

The proposed project underscores that 1) The prevalence of uncontrolled/undiagnosed HTN among ED patients from underrepresented groups who do not have a primary care physician (PCP) is alarmingly high, and 2) ED engagement and early risk assessment/stratification with facilitated PCP follow-up is a novel and feasible innovation to help address health disparity gaps in HTN. The central hypothesis of the proposal is that an ED-based screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment program for HTN (SBIRT-HTN) using existing ED resources, coupled with a follow-up visit to an ED pharmacist-initiated Post-Acute Care Hypertension Transition Clinic (PACHT-c), will improve BP control through patient empowerment, facilitating PCP follow-up rates, and consequently improving treatment compliance in a predominately underrepresented hypertensive population. This proposal is strengthened by the existing partnership between an academic urban ED and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) as a model for integrating secondary cardiovascular prevention in a population at high risk for complications due to uncontrolled/undiagnosed HTN. Moreover, this proposal is innovative as a prospective randomized controlled trial in a high-risk ED patient population with no established PCP and persistent elevated BPs.

Eligible patients are those with elevated BP and no established PCP (or no PCP contact in the past year) who present to the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health) ED. The three arms are: 1) usual care (current practice of passive outpatient referral for follow-up care), 2) an ED-based SBIRT-HTN program (patient empowerment tool) using existing ED resources followed by assisted referral for usual care, and 3) the ED based SBIRT-HTN coupled with a 48-hour follow-up visit to an ED pharmacist-initiated Post-Acute Care Hypertension Transition Clinic (PACHT-c) followed by assisted referral for primary care.

The aims evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions (SBIRT-HTN & PACHTC-c) on uncontrolled BP at 6 months. The primary outcome will be BP improvement. Based on the demographics of the ED population at the study site (70% of the current UI Health ED population are ethnic minorities), the majority of participants will be underrepresented minorities (African-American and Hispanic/Latino) and low-income individuals. The investigators propose the following specific aims and hypotheses:

Aim 1: Evaluate the effectiveness of an ED-initiated SBIRT-HTN program on BP control at 6 months post intervention compared to usual care.