NYC Health + Hospitals has for a third time received an award from HHS for its innovative hypertension care. The New York City public health system is one of 11 organizations in the nation to be recognized, according to a June 5 news release from the system.
This year, the HHS Office of Women's Health spearheaded the hypertension innovator award competition, which focused on innovations that improve "blood pressure monitoring and follow-up in women during pregnancy and/or postpartum," according to the website.
Hospitals and health system submissions had to focus on developing a program to "include attention to disparities, including racial/ethnic and/or urban/rural" and "demonstrate evidence-based approaches to screening and treating hypertensive disorders."
The office awarded $3,325,000 total across submissions to eligible programs.
NYC Health + Hospitals was recognized for its Hypertension Treat to Target program, which focuses on primary care-based hypertension management. The program was launched in 2018 and extends to postpartum care. It is designed to connect patients who experienced hypertensive disorders during pregnancy to ongoing health management aimed at reducing overall health risks.
NYC Health + Hospitals was awarded up to $100,000 for these efforts. Other health systems and hospitals that were also awarded a prize of up to $100,000 from HHS for their innovations in hypertension care were:
- Boston Medical Center — For its Remote Cloud Connected Postpartum Blood Pressure Monitoring program.
- Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital — For its Improving Outcomes by Empowering Women After Hypertensive Pregnancy program.
- Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health — For its Maternal Hypertension Initiative quality improvement program.
- Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network — For its Continuous Ambulatory Remote Engagement Services program.
- New Orleans-based Ochsner Health — For its Connected Maternity Online Monitoring program.
- University of Chicago — For its Systematic Treatment and Management of Postpartum Hypertension program.
- Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania — For its Heart Safe Motherhood program.
- Madison-based University of Wisconsin — For its Staying Healthy After Childbirth program.