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Blood Pressure Control in Hypertension
The graph above shows VA scores compared with HEDIS. HEDIS is a set of quality measures used across the healthcare industry by non-governmental and private healthcare providers. The HEDIS data used for comparison here is gathered from Medicare sources. What is this measure? Blood Pressure (BP) is the pressure of blood inside the blood vessels as it flows within the body. What are we measuring? A BP reading is expressed as a high number over a low number, such as 139/89. The high number is the pressure as the heart beats and the low number is the pressure as the heart rest between beats. When either or both pressures stay high over time, it is called high blood pressure or hypertension. Why is this important? High blood pressure is a serious illness, particularly in people with coronary heart disease. It increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. It can also cause other problems such as heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness. In most cases, high blood pressure can be controlled but not cured. Good blood pressure control prevents complications.
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