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CompletedNCT01566864Updated Jan 5, 2018

Multi-Method Health System Quality Improvement Intervention to Reduce Hypertension Disparities

An interventional study of Improve clinic based measurement of blood pressure and Provider education system to promote patient-centered care in Hypertension, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-01-05.

Sponsored by Johns Hopkins University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 11 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Apr 2011, registered Mar 2012).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
66,570
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The investigators have designed a three-part quality improvement intervention to 1) improve the clinic-based measurement of blood pressure, 2) introduce a care management system to promote self-management behaviors and rapidly titrate medications by algorithms developed in accord with guidelines and 3) introduce an interactive, needs-based, longitudinal-provider education system that promotes patient-centered care and provides practical examples of patient-provider communication strategies. The intervention will occur at six clinics within the metropolitan area of Baltimore, Maryland. The investigators will also describe clinic and health system characteristics and measure their association with implementation (uptake), success (improvements in blood pressure control and reductions in racial disparities), and sustainability of the three-part intervention over 12 -24 months.

Read the detailed description

Hypertension is common in the US. From efficacy and observational studies, we know that achieving blood pressure control can reduce morbidity and mortality. However, less than one-third of persons with hypertension achieve control as defined by national guidelines. Furthermore, racial disparities in hypertension have been clearly documented with African American patients being less likely than Caucasians to achieve adequate control. The objective of this study is to study the implementation of a multi-method quality improvement intervention in a pragmatic clinical trial. Six clinic sites within the Johns Hopkins Community Physicians (JHCP) healthcare system have been selected for participation in this study. The sites are located within the metropolitan ara of Baltimore, Maryland, yet differ greatly. We will define the context and local characteristics of each study site and determine which characteristics are associated with blood pressure control and racial disparity at the clinic (micro-system) and health system (macro-system)level. We will deploy a three-part quality improvement intervention to 1) improve the clinic-based measurement of blood pressure, 2) introduce a care management system to promote patients' self-management behaviors and rapidly titrate medications by algorithms developed in accord with guidelines and 3) introduce an interactive, needs-based, longitudinal-provider education system that promotes patient-centered care and provides practical examples of patient-provider communication strategies. Using statistical process control charting, we will determine the stability of blood pressure control in the system prior to intervention and after the introduction of each intervention. We will vary the order of the interventions among the six clinical sites to determine if each intervention is independently effective in each local context and if the effect is repeatable in other contextual situations within the same macro-system. In addition, we will study the organizational characteristics and features of the local context that are associated with implementation, uptake of the interventions and success of each intervention in achieving blood pressure control and reducing racial disparities in blood pressure control at the clinic level .

02

Conditions studied

  • Hypertension

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Keywords

  • hypertension
  • disparities
  • care management
  • provider education
  • audit and feedback
  • Omron
  • African Americans
  • organizational change
  • implementation research
03

In context

Hypertension

6,834 studies on the registry are indexed under Hypertension; 971 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 66,570 is above the median of 90 across 5,095 interventional studies indexed under Hypertension.

Browse Hypertension studies →

Lead sponsor

Johns Hopkins University is the lead sponsor of 1,809 studies on the registry; 314 are open to participants now.

Of its 208 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 144 (69%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: patients with an ICD9 diagnosis of hypertension or a BP >=120/>=80 who have not been seen in the last 12 months and any patient with their most recent BP >=140/>=90 or >=130/>=80 if they have diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
66,570 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Behavioral: Improve clinic based measurement of blood pressur

    Behavioral: Improve clinic based measurement of blood pressure

  • Experimental
    Behavioral: Provider education system to promote patient-cent

    Behavioral: Provider education system to promote patient-centered care

  • Experimental
    Behavioral: Introduce care management system in clinics

    Behavioral: Introduce care management system in clinics

Interventions

  • BehavioralImprove clinic based measurement of blood pressure

    This intervention seeks to improve BP control and reduce disparities through an organizational change and new skills development. To improve the reliability of BP measurement in clinics, new automated BP machines (Omron HEM-907XL) will be provided for each PCP. Medical assistants will be trained and certified in the proper use of the Omron machine by a master trainer. The will be trained to measure the arm circumference, choose the appropriate cuff and place it properly on the arm. They will be recertified yearly. Once activated, the Omron HEM-907XL will lead measurement for 5 minutes then perform a series of 3 BP measurements spaced by 30 seconds and present the man of these 3 measurements. The mean will be record in the electronic medical records.

  • BehavioralProvider education system to promote patient-centered care

    The provider education intervention will address blood pressure control and disparities through audit and feedback. The intervention includes a hypertension dashboard and a linked provider-tailored education intervention. The latter aims to enhance provider communication skills during clinical encounters with hypertension patients, via teaching specific verbal behaviors with practice implications related to elicitation of hypertension treatment and adherence concerns. The dashboard is a web based tool linked to the electronic medical records that imports clinic measurements of BP and offers PCPs a quick assessment of the percentage of those achieving blood pressure control and receiving guideline-concordant care in their panel, clinic, and system overall and by patient race/ethnicity.

  • BehavioralIntroduce care management system in clinics

    The care management (CM) intervention will address blood pressure management and disparities through patient education, promotion of self-management, and the introduction of an organizational change through the addition of new team members. The CM team will contact patients with a BP of ≥140/≥90 (≥130/≥80 for patients with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease) as identified through the electronic medical records for enrollment in care management services. Patients with a BP in these ranges will be referred to a CM program that emphasizes four key self-management behaviors: diet, physical activity, medication adherence, and self-monitoring. The self-management promotion program will consist of 3 one-on-one sessions either with a Pharm D. or R.D. over the course of 3 months.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Percent of clinic patients with controlled blood pressure and the racial disparity in controlled BP at each clinic.

    The percent of clinic patients each week with SBP \< 140 and DBP \< 90, or if patient is diabetic or has CKD then SBP \<130 and DBP \< 80. If no BP measure, patient does not meet JNC-7 guidelines. Note: If multiple BP measures are recorded, the lowest will be used. The racial disparity is defined as the percent difference in blood pressure control between white patients and ethnic minority patients (separated into categories of African-American patients and other race patients). These outcomes will be assessed weekly for 24 weeks prior to and after roll out of each of the interventions.

    Time frame: 24 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Terminal digit preference

    The percent of BP measurements at each clinic that end in zero( or an even number) each week before, during, and after implementation of the BP measurement intervention. The measure will serve as an indicator of the uptake of the OMRON automated BP measurement device. It will be obtained weekly for 24 weeks prior to and after roll out of the BP measurement intervention

    Time frame: 24 weeks

  2. Repeat BP measures

    the percent of patient visits at each clinic each week where a second BP measure was done. This measure will be considered an indicator of the provider's trust of the medical assistant's initial BP recording. The measures will be obtained weekly for 24 weeks prior to and after roll-out of the BP measurement intervention

    Time frame: 24 weeks

  3. Patient enrollment in care management

    The percent of eligible patients who are enrolled in care management with a registered dietitian/pharmacist team. This measurement will be obtained weekly for 24 weeks before and after implementation of the care management intervention.

    Time frame: 24 weeks

  4. Completion of care management program

    Among patients who enroll in care management, the percent of patients who complete 3 intervention contacts with the care management team, The measure will be obtained weekly for 24 weeks before and after implementation of the care management intervention.

    Time frame: 24 weeks

  5. Dashboard review/communication skills training completion

    The number of dashboard reviews and communication skills training modules completed in each quarter, both divided by the number of providers in each site. This measure will be obtained quarterly for 12 months following the baseline response

    Time frame: 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Johns Hopkins Community Physicians
    Baltimore, Maryland 21211, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Block L, Flynn SJ, Cooper LA, Lentz C, Hull T, Dietz KB, Boonyasai RT. Promoting sustainability in quality improvement: an evaluation of a web-based continuing education program in blood pressure measurement. BMC Fam Pract. 2018 Jan 10;19(1):13. doi: 10.1186/s12875-017-0682-5. PubMed 29320994 ↗
  • Boonyasai RT, Carson KA, Marsteller JA, Dietz KB, Noronha GJ, Hsu YJ, Flynn SJ, Charleston JM, Prokopowicz GP, Miller ER 3rd, Cooper LA. A bundled quality improvement program to standardize clinical blood pressure measurement in primary care. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2018 Feb;20(2):324-333. doi: 10.1111/jch.13166. Epub 2017 Dec 21. PubMed 29267994 ↗
  • Cooper LA, Marsteller JA, Noronha GJ, Flynn SJ, Carson KA, Boonyasai RT, Anderson CA, Aboumatar HJ, Roter DL, Dietz KB, Miller ER 3rd, Prokopowicz GP, Dalcin AT, Charleston JB, Simmons M, Huizinga MM. A multi-level system quality improvement intervention to reduce racial disparities in hypertension care and control: study protocol. Implement Sci. 2013 Jun 4;8:60. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-8-60. PubMed 23734703 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Apr 2011 to primary completion in Apr 2015, 48 months.

Of 1,339 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Hypertension, half reached primary completion within 22 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 9 and three quarters within 42. This study's 48 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 1,433 studies reached it within 23 months; a quarter within 9 and three quarters within 43.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 22, 2012
First posted
Mar 29, 2012
StartActual
Apr 2011
Primary completionActual
Apr 2015
CompletionActual
Apr 2015
Last update
Jan 5, 2018
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 5, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01566864
Collaborators
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 29, 2012
Start date
Apr 2011
Primary completion
Apr 2015
Completion
Apr 2015
Last update
Jan 5, 2018

Study contacts

Lisa A Cooper, MD, MPH
principal investigator · Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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