OSF HealthCare has been awarded $2.5 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to help advance management of high blood pressure. President of OSF St. Mary and Holy Family Medical Centers Lisa DeKezel explains how this will assist in the treatment of patients:
“Nearly half of U.S. adults live with hypertension and as one of only forty-two health systems nationwide, we were chosen for this initiative and will be working in 123 different primary care sites across our system and reaching over 100,000 patients to really focus on this over the next four years,” DeKezel states.
“That includes integrating proven, evidence-based strategies around care for high blood pressure, using digital tools to better engage our patients, addressing barriers like social determinants of health; that are the challenges our patients face. So, whether it is financial, whether it is food insecurity, access to medications, transportation, all of those things that really become barriers to peoples’ journey in their health. Then also enhancing our data to really improve outcomes to understand where the gaps are for our patients and act upon that,” informs DeKezel.
DeKezel reports that this $2.5 million builds on the recently received $500,000 Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute grant.
