Hypertension outcomes in an urban nurse-managed center.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the quality of hypertension (HTN) care in an urban nurse-managed center (NMC) by chart audits of insured and uninsured (N = 52) African Americans who were managed by nurse practitioners.


METHODS
A chart audit form was developed by the authors that merged Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) criteria with the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VI) criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
There was near comparable hypertension control among the two groups. No difference was found in systolic blood pressure (BP) control; however, the uninsured group had a slightly greater average diastolic BP compared with the insured group. There was no significant difference in the number of HTN medications or the number of risk factors. A significant difference was found in the number of NP visits per year between the two groups; the uninsured group averaged 3.2 more visits per year.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurse practitioners in this NMC were able to manage HTN in a high-risk population despite a lack of insurance coverage for anti-hypertensive prescriptions. The finding that the uninsured group had more clinic visits per year than the insured group is significant in that it increases the cost of providing care for these patients and the health care system. The patient cost in time, transportation and burden needs further assessment.
Benkert
R
R
Wayne State University, College of Nursing, Detroit, MI, USA. ac3902@wayne.edu
Buchholz
S
S
Poole
M
M
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044383:Black People; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000451:nursing*; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009731:Nursing Audit; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012307:Risk Factors; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population; D001741:Black or African American
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents