Abstract P356: Hypertension Trends And Disparities Over Twelve Years In A Large Health System: Leveraging The Electronic Health Records

Introduction: The digital transformation of medical data has provided health systems with an opportunity to utilize electronic health records (EHR) for analyzing hypertension trends and identifying areas for improvement. Methods: We conducted a serial cross-sectional analysis of outpatients of the Sentara Healthcare System using EHR data from 2010 to 2021 to gain actionable insights about hypertension trends and disparities. Hypertension was defined as elevated visit blood pressure (BP >= 140/90 mmHg) or use of antihypertensive medications. We compared four different definitions of hypertension and assessed age-adjusted prevalence, BP control rate, and coded diagnosis rate as outcome measures. Results: The study included 1,376,325 unique adults. Hypertension prevalence varied by the definition used, ranging from 36.5% to 50.9% in 2010, and steadily increased by approximately 5% over time. BP control rates initially ranged from 61.2% to 71.3% in 2010, stabilized, experienced an increase during 2018-2019, and declined during 2020-2021. The proportion of hypertensive patients with a coded diagnosis ranged from 45.5% to 60.2% in 2010, showing improvement over time. Non-Hispanic Black patients consistently had higher hypertension prevalence, mean age-adjusted BP, and lower BP control rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Conclusions: Over 12 years, hypertension prevalence increased within the regional health system. Although BP control rates improved, they remained below 73% and revealed significant racial disparities. The assessment of EHR data uncovered important trends and highlighted opportunities for enhancing health system performance.