The BP Activate Study aims to assess the effectiveness of the BP Report letter with personalized BP medication recommendations, compared with Control letters and no intervention, at shortening time to appointment, time to visit, time to medication change, and time to achievement of BP goal.
The BP Activate Study is a randomized quality improvement trial. We will deliver one of two versions of a letter to established English-speaking primary care patients at Mt Zion with uncontrolled hypertension, defined by SBP>140 or DBP>90 in the past two years (identified via EHR). The letter will prompt patients to schedule a visit with their provider or team nurse practitioner to discuss their BP recommendations with their clinician. We will test 2 versions of the letter and a usual care control:
- The "BP Activate Report Letter" group will get a letter that presents recommendations for medication changes from a computerized algorithm using the patient's medical records and recommends discussing these specific recommendations with their clinician; or
- The "Control Letter" group will get a letter that suggests they talk to their clinician about their BP without providing any specific medication recommendations.
- The "Usual Care" group will not receive any intervention.
This primary goal of the study is to assess the effectiveness of the BP Activate Report Letter compared with the Control Letter, and see if it shortens time to appointment, time to visit, time to medication change (primary outcome), and time to achievement of BP goal. Clinicians, with patient input, will still have full control of how BP is clinically managed. A small number of patients will be contacted by a research coordinator to hear what they thought when they received the letter, and why they did or did not act upon the information.
