title: Cardiovascular risk factor control in communities--update from the ASH Carolinas-Georgia Chapter, the Hypertension Initiative, and the Community Physicians' Network.
abstract: The prevalence of hypertension dictates that blood pressure must be managed effectively in primary care. The American Society of Hypertension (ASH) regional chapters and clinical hypertension specialists represent a positive response by ASH to the growing problems of hypertension and metabolic syndrome-related risks and disease. To have a significant public health effect, the impact of clinical hypertension specialists must be leveraged. Key activities in the community include educating other providers locally, delivering care for complex referral patients, and fostering growth of a practice network with a central database in collaboration with academic partners. The database supports practice audit and feedback reports to enhance quality improvement, identify continuing medical education topics, and facilitate clinical trials to test new therapeutic and best-practice approaches to risk factor management. The ASH regional chapters serve as a forum for community and academic hypertension specialists to collaborate with like-minded individuals and organizations. The collaboration among the ASH Carolinas-Georgia chapter, the Hypertension Initiative, and the Community Physicians' Network provides a model for other ASH chapters and health delivery groups to partner in delivering continuing medical education programs focused on cardiovascular risk factor management, recruiting practices into the network, and developing and maintaining a centralized patient database. Evidence suggests that this collaboration is facilitating application of evidence-based medicine and risk factor control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. eganbm@musc.edu
authors.forename: Brent M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lackland
authors.forename: Priscilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Igho-Pemu
authors.forename: Katharine H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Hendrix
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Basile
authors.forename: Shakaib U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Eni C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Okonofua
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quarshie
authors.forename: Adefisayo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oduwole
authors.forename: Anekwe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onwuanyi
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Chamberlain
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Obialo
authors.forename: Elizabeth O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Ofili
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013022:South Carolina