BP control. Improvement in a university medical clinic by use of a physician's associate.
Many hypertensive patients, especially those in outpatient clinics at large teaching hospitals, do not achieve BP control. We incorporated a physician's associate into an existing house staff medical clinic and evaluated whether this improved BP control. In patients with moderate or severe hypertension, BP control was achieved in 56% of patients observed by both the physician's associate and the house staff and in 32% of patients observed solely by house staff. Possible contributing factors were more frequent follow-up, simplification of drug regimens, reduced waiting time, more time spent with the patients, and overall greater satisfaction with the physician's associate. We conclude that the addition of a physician's associate to an outpatient clinic is an effective method for enhancing BP control. This can be achieved without establishing a separate hypertension clinic or depriving house staff of experience in the management of hypertension.
D001794:Blood Pressure; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010823:Physician Assistants; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires