EasyPI: Hypertension

Introduction to EasyPI: Hypertension

Process or quality improvement (QI) is an important part of primary care and essential to maintain board certification. Engaging in performance improvement (PI) activities can:
  • Improve patient outcomes and help meet quality metrics
  • Achieve team-based practice change
  • Make your practice more efficient
  • Boost team morale
  • Improve revenue.

This online toolkit will provide you with guidance and resources on how to plan and implement a PI project focused on hypertension within your clinic. Once completed, this toolkit provides information and instructions on how to submit your project to the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), where you can earn certification points toward your ABFM Family Medicine Certification and continuing medical education (CME) credits through the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Think of this toolkit as a menu, not a checklist. You can move around, skip steps, and use only the pieces that support your current goals. There’s no need to read every article or click every link to make this toolkit work for you.

Resources with indicate there may be additional CME credit available. Resources with indicate materials that include tools, education, support, etc. on health equity topics to consider.

Focus Area 1: Review Background & Evidence

Use some or all of the articles/resources below to build an understanding of current evidence for hypertension.


If you have practice specific issues that you would like to consider, you can use generative AI, such as OpenEvidence.com to assist you.

Some sample queries that you could use to get background evidence and improvement ideas:
  • Provide background evidence, quality measures, and performance improvement interventions for hypertension in nursing home patients.
  • Provide background evidence, quality measures, and performance improvement interventions for hypertension in incarcerated individuals.
  • Provide background evidence, quality measures, and performance improvement interventions for hypertension in immigrants.

When you are using generative AI for clinical questions, it is important to review the underlying literature before implementing any changes to patient care as there is the potential for hallucinations and other errors including incorrectly interpreted evidence. Many medical AI resources include links to the supporting articles to simplify this process.


Focus Area 2: Assess Your Current Practice

Examine your clinic’s current hypertension data to understand baseline performance and identify trends across patient populations.


Choose the tools to help you and your team have a successful PI project.

Obtain baseline data prior to and after the intervention. The following document provides general information and tips for this process:


Focus Area 3: Identify Gaps & Set Improvement Goals

Review workflows, processes, and patient population needs to pinpoint opportunities for improvement and establish clear, measurable goals.


Utilize the materials below to start brainstorming a process in your clinic you want to change.

Workflow & process mapping creates a visual map of the steps currently happening in your clinic around a specific patient care metric or administrative task. A process map allows the entire team to visualize and appreciate what role/contribution they and their colleagues play in the care of patients. It also gives an overview of the current processes that allow the team to plan for change by identifying unintended variations in care or inefficient procedures. It can be used to highlight opportunities to involve other team members in care, improve communication between team members, and ways to give team members increased ownership in patient care, and therefore increase employee job satisfaction.

View an outline of the mapping process and the following instructional video on the process:

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Focus Area 4: Plan Your Intervention Strategy

Choose evidence-based interventions that align with your clinic’s capacity, such as reminders, standing orders, outreach workflows, or electronic health record optimization.


Once the process map is complete and you have identified an area in your current process that you want to change, start brainstorming your intervention plan. Review the clinic and patient resources below for more ideas on intervention selection. Once you have decided on an intervention, use the worksheet below to finalize your intervention plan.

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Focus Area 5: Implement Changes

Put your plan into action, test and refine workflows, engage your care team, and track progress toward your screening goals. Incorporate physician tools and patient-facing materials to support shared decision-making, address barriers, and improve screening completion rates.


It’s time to implement your intervention and start your first PDSA cycle. Don’t forget to utilize your completed PDSA cycle worksheet for guidance. After the allotted time you’ve chosen for your project, you will again collect data to assess if your implementation was successful. From here, you can decide to make changes to the project or make plans for sustainability.

Utilize all or some of the following resources to support your intervention:

Utilize these resources as necessary to support patients in the process.


Focus Area 6: Collect Post-Intervention Data 

After implementing your intervention, gather post-intervention data using the same measures and data sources identified at baseline.


This data collection process allows your team to assess changes in screening rates, compare outcomes over time, and understand the impact of your efforts. Ensure data collection is consistent and timely so results can inform evaluation, reporting, and next steps in your PI cycle.


Focus Area 7: Submit Your Project for Certification Credit

Follow step-by-step guidance to document your work and submit your completed project to the ABFM for certification points and claim CME credit through the AAFP.


Now that you’ve created a PI project and collected data, it’s time to submit your project for credit!  The ABFM’s Self-Directed Clinical PI Project pathway is a simple process and should only take about 20 minutes to complete.

This pathway allows you to report customized improvement projects, regardless of the scope of care delivered. This pathway can be used to satisfy your PI requirement for continuing certification. Some key things to know about this pathway include:
  • You may report a project conducted alone or within a single practice group, an ACO, or other larger group practice
  • You can use this pathway whether you see patients in a continuity setting or if you are providing non-continuity episodic care (e.g., hospitalist, telemedicine, locums, urgent care, emergency department, etc.).

To help you through the process of applying for credit, here is a blank sample application to review to make sure you have all of the information you will need; a completed sample application for a “Hypertension PI” project with helpful notes; and a video guide that walks you through each step.

To access this PI activity and submit your work, log into your MyABFM Portfolio.
Once you’ve submitted your application and it has been approved (may take up to 10 days for approval), you will fulfill an ABFM certification requirement and you will have earned 20 ABFM points and 20 American Academy of Family Physicians Prescribed CME credits. fake text for space fake text for space fake text for space

We’d love to hear how this process was for you and what impact you had on patient care by completing your PI activity. Let us know in a post-survey.

If you have any questions regarding your PI activity requirement for the ABFM or if you have any issues with your application, please contact Ann Williamson at the ABFM. You can also visit the OAFP’s ABFM Certification webpage for more information on all things ABFM!


Questions

If you have any questions regarding materials on this page or the PI process in general, please contact Deputy Executive Vice President Kaitlin McGuffie or call 800.742.7327.

Sponsor

This Easy PI track is sponsored by AstraZeneca Medical Affairs – CVRM, a proud Partner in Health of the OAFP.