Numerous studies have examined potential causes for the racial differences in HTN prevalence and severity including baseline insulin levels, sympathetic nervous activity, intracellular calcium levels and intracellular sodium levels.[21-23] However, to our knowledge, there have been no studies examining the relationship of physician adherence to JNC guidelines to racial disparities in outcomes from HTN; nor have there been published studies examining the use of interventions such as computerized decision support tools or case-management to improve JNC adherence with the goal of reducing racial differences in blood pressure control. The aims of this study are: 1) To determine if physician's prescribing practices for HTN medications adhere to JNC guidelines for drug therapy.
2) To determine if there are variations in adherence to JNC guidelines based on patient race.
3) To determine if adherence to JNC guidelines improves blood pressure control. 4) To determine if the use of computerized medical reminders improves adherence to JNC guidelines.
Inclusion Criteria:
We examined data obtained from the electronic medical record review of patients older than 20 years with a diagnosis of hypertension, with at least one hypertension-related outpatient visit to one of fourteen general medicine clinics in community health centers, community-based practices, and hospital-based practices affiliated with a large urban academic medical center during the one-year period prior to the beginning of the intervention trial.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients without documented hypertension-related primary care visits or less than 20 years of age