More than 30 percent of Americans may suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension, a condition that can lead to strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease. However, as many as 20 percent of people who have hypertension may not be aware that they have a potentially fatal medical condition.
An electronic health record (EHR) can help solve that.
Researchers have concluded that using a specific algorithm in EHRs can detect whether patients who use such records may have hypertension. The condition can be hard to diagnose with a single blood pressure reading in a physician’s office because there are so many commonplace reasons why someone might have a high reading. But us
ing an EHR in the right way can aggregate and analyze several blood pressure readings and give doctors clues as to when they may be missing a diagnosis.
During the study, researchers identified more than 1,400 patients who had a missed hypertension diagnosis.
“It’s as though you’ve got a computer warning system watching your back,” Michael Rakotz, M.D., a Chicago-area family doctor and principal investigator for the study, told the publication Hospitals & Health Networks.
If you’re concerned that you may have an undiagnosed case of hypertension, SecondOpinionExpert’s EHR service and panel of board-certified Physician Specialists can help clarify the situation. Visit us at www.secondopinionexpert.com.
Read the Hospitals & Health Networks article here.
Posted in: ArticlesTags: algorithms, EHRs, hypertension