Hypertension
Millions of individuals worldwide are impacted with hypertension, one of the top health problems. The prevalence of hypertension has skyrocketed over the past five years, and the disease’s fatality rate has followed suit. Hypertension affects nearly 100 million Americans, reports Omboni (2019). New research shows that between the ages of 55 and 75, hypertension impacts over half of the US demographic (Del Pinto & Ferri, 2019). If effective measures are not taken to prevent the spread of the disease, the number of affected people is projected to reach 1.6 billion by December 2025. As a result, hypertension should be seen as a global health crisis demanding rapid action.
Furthermore, hypertension can progress to a serious health condition if not addressed or if treatment is delayed. Even though hypertension is increasingly prevalent and fast expanding to new regions of the world, many people still struggle to keep it under control. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) report that just 25% of Americans with hypertension have it under control. The high expense of controlling hypertension means that millions of people who need treatment cannot afford it.
Cost Considerations
Healthcare systems are spending more money to make sure hospitals and clinics have enough doctors and other medical staff to treat the rising number of people diagnosed with hypertension. In addition, the cost of managing hypertension rises as illness persists in a patient because more time is required for medical appointments and the purchase of drugs (Del Pinto & Ferri, 2019). This has resulted in a significant financial burden on hypertension sufferers and their medical insurance providers (such as Medicare and Medicaid). Once the condition progresses to produce other morbidities, such as stroke and mortality, the financial burden of medical care becomes more significant for businesses.
People with hypertension pay an extra $3,000 per year in healthcare costs compared to those without the condition. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the costs associated with treating hypertension are twofold those of people without the condition (Iwegbu, 2020). This includes spending 2.5 times as much on clinical charges and twice as much on hospitalization. Medication accounts for almost a third of the total cost of treating and managing hypertension in the United States ($29,67), while care services and clinical therapies add another $2,965 to the total (including hospitalization) (Iwegbu, 2020).
Therefore, lowering the medical cost of hypertension can be accomplished by better medical care in four key areas: treatment, analysis, assessment, and regulation. The American Heart Association (AHA) has developed a new set of four guidelines to help bring down the cost of treating hypertension (Iwegbu 2020). The primary strategy is early detection and treatment, bringing cardiac regularity down to dietary values (Iwegbu 2020). An excellent method of controlling healthcare costs is early detection, which helps stop the issues, slows the worsening of current injuries, and lessens the risks of cardiovascular illnesses and strokes, and so on. Second, we will try to keep the patient’s blood pressure within a healthy range. Clinical practitioners benefit from understanding hypertension control as more than just a single episode to better manage their clients’ actions and maintain efficient communication channels with them as necessary.
Care Quality
Patients with hypertension also need high-quality care. Uncontrolled hypertension is mainly attributable to a lack of awareness, education, control, and management, as stated by Abdel Aal et al. (2021). To assess the most important underlying causes, researchers must examine the decisions made by doctors, which in turn demands close observation of both doctoral practices and patient habits. This ideally necessitates hypertension awareness, supervision that may involve adjusting one’s way of life, one’s medications, and one’s regular visits to the doctor. According to Fryar et al. (2017), the primary obstacles to providing high-quality care and treatment for hypertension stem from problems with the clinical framework, capacity hindrances, and motivational barriers. Therefore, the quality of care can be enhanced by making treatment resources readily available at healthcare facilities, having doctors do follow-ups, and teaching people with hypertension how to alter their lifestyles and take their medications as prescribed.
Patient Safety
According to Wierzejska et al. (2020), a decline in patient safety is caused by ineffective cooperation, a lack of partnership among healthcare staff, and a lack of expertise. Medication mistakes, insufficient or nonexistent medical follow-ups and incorrect psychiatric diagnoses are only some of the ways that insufficient harmonization can severely compromise patient safety. When doctors make mistakes or don’t follow up with their patients, it puts them at risk for hypertension-related complications.
References
Abdel Aal, A., Youssef, G., El Faramawy, A., El Remisy, D., El Deeb, H., El Aroussy, W., & Ibrahim, M. M. (2021). Registry of the Egyptian specialized hypertension clinics: Sex related differences in clinical characteristics and hypertension management among low socioeconomic hypertensive patients. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 23(6), 11201128. Web.
Facts about hypertension. (2020). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Del Pinto, R., & Ferri, C. (2019). Hypertension management at older age: An update. High Blood. Web.
Fryar, C. D., Ostchega, Y., Hales, C. M., Zhang, G., & Kruszon-Moran, D. (2017). Hypertension prevalence and control among adults: United States, 2015-2016. Web.
Iwegbu, T. R. (2020). Lifestyle Modifications for Hypertension Management among African American Adults (Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University). Web.
Omboni, S. (2019). Connected health in hypertension management. Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine, 6, 76. Web.
Spruill, T., Nazario, S., & Birenbaum, D. S. (2020). Interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism are the competencies most often noted in emergency medicine physicians judged as exemplary by their peers. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 13(1), 27-34. Web.
Wierzejska, E., Giernaś, B., Lipiak, A., Karasiewicz, M., Cofta, M., & Staszewski, R. (2020). A global perspective on the costs of hypertension: a systematic review. Archives of Medical Science, 16(1). Web.
Woo, B. F. Y., Lee, J. X. Y., & Tam, W. W. S. (2017). The impact of the advanced practice nursing role on quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost in the emergency and critical care settings: a systematic review. Human Resources for Health, 15(1), 1-22. Web.