Application of a Tool to Identify Undiagnosed Hypertension — United States, 2016

Abstract

Approximately 11 million U.S. adults with a usual source of health care have undiagnosed hypertension, placing them at increased risk for cardiovascular events (1-3). Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), CDC developed the Million Hearts Hypertension Prevalence Estimator Tool, which allows health care delivery organizations (organizations) to predict their patient population's hypertension prevalence based on demographic and comorbidity characteristics (2). Organizations can use this tool to compare predicted prevalence with their observed prevalence to identify potential underdiagnosed hypertension. This study applied the tool using medical billing data alone and in combination with clinical data collected among 8.92 million patients from 25 organizations participating in American Medical Group Association (AMGA) national learning collaborative* to calculate and compare predicted and observed adult hypertension prevalence. Using billing data alone revealed that up to one in eight cases of hypertension might be undiagnosed. However, estimates varied when clinical data were included to identify comorbidities used to predict hypertension prevalence or describe observed hypertension prevalence. These findings demonstrate the tool's potential use in improving identification of hypertension and the likely importance of using both billing and clinical data to establish hypertension and comorbidity prevalence estimates and to support clinical quality improvement efforts.