HHS through HRSA https://www.hrsa.gov awarded nearly $90 million to 496 health centers across 48 states, D.C., Federated States of Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The health centers will use the funds to help the number of patients diagnosed with hypertension who have controlled blood pressure.
Today, nearly 30 million people rely on HRSA-funded health centers for care, of which nearly 18 million are racial and ethnic minorities. This means that health centers are at the forefront to improve heart health and reduce disparities in COVID-19 outcomes among racial and ethnic minority communities.
The three year project to help patients with hypertension, includes the use of Self-Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) technology also known as home blood pressure monitoring.
The awards to the health centers are part of the National Hypertension Control Initiative: Addressing Disparities among Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations referred to as the HIN Initiative https://bphc.hrsa.gov. The HIN Initiative is a partnership between HRSA and the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/hypertension.
It has been found that hypertension when associated with COVID-19 can produce severe outcomes and chronic cardiovascular disease. The HIN Initiative seeks to implement evidence-based interventions to improve both cardiovascular health and COVID-19 outcomes nationally for racial and ethnic minority populations.
Another component of the HIN Initiative has HRSA and OMH co-funding the HTN Initiative training and technical assistance with the American Heart Association (AHA), https://www.heart.org through a separate award. AHA will provide participating HRSA-funded health centers with support in provider training, patient education, and program evaluation.