Moroni Clinic Recognized for helping patients control high blood pressure

12-26-2019

MORONI—The Intermountain Healthcare Clinic in Moroni has been named one of the nation’s best clinics at helping patients effectively control their high blood pressure.

The clinic has been actively working to help at least 80 percent of its patients achieve healthy blood pressure levels, said Dr. Eileen Jackson, director of the Moroni Clinic.

Local caregivers have helped many patients improve their blood pressure by providing lots of follow-up and personalized care, which helps patients follow through with recommended treatment and blood pressure checks, Jackson said.

“We place reminders in our electronic health record message log and call patients when they need a recheck,” she said. “The patient can go to the nearest Intermountain facility, including hospitals, pharmacies or clinics, where blood pressure rechecks are offered on demand. This reduces the need for scheduling as many paid clinic visits, thereby reducing patient costs. We also lend out home blood pressure cuffs to people who have trouble with travel. At the clinic, we continue to recheck and adjust treatment as needed until the blood pressure is controlled.”

The Moroni Clinic has been named as a “Hypertension Control Champion” by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as part of their 2019 Million Hearts Challenge, according to IMC spokesperson Holly Nelson.

The Moroni Clinic is one of 17 nationwide, and the only one in Utah, to be recognized for their efforts to help a large percentage of their patients effectively control their high blood pressure.

“Over the past six years, we’ve found that repeat blood pressure checks are most likely to happen if both medical assistants and providers address the high blood pressure with the patient, and follow up with timed reminders to have it rechecked,” said Jackson. “Blood pressure rechecks are planned at intervals appropriate to each patient’s circumstances.”

Hypertension is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke and is a potentially life-altering problem for tens of millions of adults in the United States. Most adults who have high blood pressure do not have their condition under control.  The CDC challenge helps health systems share lessons learned and paths to improve blood pressure control nationwide.

Million Hearts® is a national initiative, co-led by CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2022. Saving lives through better blood pressure control has been a longstanding CDC priority. The CDC recognizes the champions’ performance and shares their lessons learned to inspire others to focus on achieving similar success.

“The Utah Million Hearts Coalition supports the national initiative and applauds the staff of the Moroni Clinic for this great achievement,” said Edwin Espinel, health systems specialist at the Utah Department of Health’s Healthy Living through Environment, Policy & Improved Clinical Care program.

For more information, see intermountainhealthcare.org and https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/partners-progress/champions/list.html#2019.