Measure Up Pressure Down American Medical Group Foundation

Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Challenge 2015

The Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Challenge is a competition to identify clinicians, practices, and health systems that have demonstrated exceptional achievements in working with their patients to control hypertension. The Challenge is open to public and private clinicians, medical practices, and health systems. Strategies used by Champions that support hypertension control may be written into a success story and posted on the Million Hearts® website.

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and Measure Up/Pressure Down® campaign have a strong history of success with this competition through our members. We encourage all medical groups, health systems, and other organized system of care with a hypertension control rate of at least 70% during the 12 month reporting period among the practice's hypertensive patient population to apply.

More information, including rules and eligibility, is available here. The deadline to submit a nomination is Saturday, October 31, 2015, at 11:59 pm EST. The 2015 Champions will be posted on the Million Hearts® website in May 2016.

Our Successes

During the 2014 competition, 14 medical groups, health systems, and providers associated with the American Medical Group Association and/or its national Measure Up/Pressure Down® hypertension campaign received national recognition as Million Hearts® 2014 Hypertension Control Champions. These Champions include:

• Arsalan Shirwany, MD, FACC, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation, Germantown, TN
• The Baton Rouge Clinic, AMC, Baton Rouge, LA
• Colorado Springs Health Partners, Colorado Springs, CO
• Daniel Otten, MD, FACC, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation, Germantown, TN
• Denver Health Community Health Services, Denver, CO
• Esse Health, St. Louis, MO
• Essentia Health, Duluth, MN
• Holger Salazar, MD, FACC, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation, Germantown, TN
• Jennifer Morrow, MD, FACC, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation, Germantown, TN
• Kaiser Permanente, Southern California, CA
• Kelsey-Seybold Clinic - Cypress, Houston, TX
• Kelsey-Seybold Clinic - Pasadena, Pasadena, TX
• Premier Medical Associates, Monroeville, PA
• PriMed Physicians, Dayton, OH

The 14 medical groups, health systems, and providers account for nearly half of 2014’s 30 honorees. In 2013, three of the nine Hypertension Control Champions were both AMGA members and campaign participants.