BP control. Improvement in a university medical clinic by use of a physician's associate.

Many hypertensive patients, especially those in outpatient clinics at large teaching hospitals, do not achieve BP control. We incorporated a physician's associate into an existing house staff medical clinic and evaluated whether this improved BP control. In patients with moderate or severe hypertension, BP control was achieved in 56% of patients observed by both the physician's associate and the house staff and in 32% of patients observed solely by house staff. Possible contributing factors were more frequent follow-up, simplification of drug regimens, reduced waiting time, more time spent with the patients, and overall greater satisfaction with the physician's associate. We conclude that the addition of a physician's associate to an outpatient clinic is an effective method for enhancing BP control. This can be achieved without establishing a separate hypertension clinic or depriving house staff of experience in the management of hypertension.

Duke Scholars

Author Francis Albert Neelon Medicine, Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition

Author Charles Franklin Starmer Computer Science