Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida Earns National Recognition for Efforts to Improve the Health of its Patients
The American Heart Association and American Medical Association celebrate Physicians’ Primary Care for commitment to prioritizing blood pressure control, cholesterol control and diabetes management.
FORT MYERS, FLA., December 21, 2020 — Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida is the recipient of three national awards from the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association in recognition of its commitment to improving the health of its patients in cholesterol management, controlling blood pressure and management of Type II Diabetes.
Gold Awards were presented in the following areas:
Blood pressure control
The Gold Award recognizes practices that have 70 percent or more of their adult patient population with high blood pressure controlled. Physicians’ Primary Care reports that 85 percent of its adult patients have their blood pressure under control. The Gold Award recognition is part of the 2020 Target: BP™ Recognition Program, which is a national collaboration between the AHA and the AMA aimed at reducing the number of Americans who suffer from heart attacks and strokes each year.
Cholesterol control
The Gold Award recognizes practices that have 70 percent or more of their adult at-risk patient population appropriately managed with statin therapy. Physicians’ Primary Care reports that 74 percent of their at-risk adult population has their cholesterol managed with statin therapy.
Type II Diabetes management
The Gold Award recognizes practices that have 75 percent or more of their patient population maintain control of their diabetes with diet, exercise and medication management. Physicians’ Primary Care met this standard.
Hypertension (high BP) is a leading risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and preventable death in the U.S. In addition, there are 116 million U.S. adults living with high BP and less than half of those people have their BP under control – making both diagnosing and effectively managing hypertension critical. And following the Surgeon General’s Call-to-Action to prioritize hypertension control in the U.S. and research in JAMA showing that overall rates of BP control have declined in recent years, optimizing hypertension control could not be more timely or needed.
“We are very proud of the physicians, nurses and staff who have made the well-being of our patients their highest priority, resulting in so many of our patients reducing their high blood pressure, reducing cholesterol levels and managing their diabetes,” said Dr. Mary Yankaskas, managing physician of Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida. “We are very proud to be part of these programs presented by the American Heart Association in partnership with the American Medical Association.”
Target: BP™ is a national collaboration between the AHA and the AMA aimed at reducing the number of Americans who suffer from heart attacks and strokes each year by urging physician practices, health systems and patients to prioritize BP control. The initiative aims to help health care organizations improve BP control rates through use of the evidence-based AMA MAP BP™ quality improvement program, and recognizes organizations committed to improving blood pressure control.
To earn the Target: Type 2 Diabetes℠ award, organizations must commit to improving the health of their patients through high quality care related to type 2 diabetes and management of cardiovascular risk factors with the ultimate goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks, and strokes in people living with type 2 diabetes. Every 80 seconds, an adult with diabetes in the U.S. is hospitalized for heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack.
Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol™ recognizes medical practices that have demonstrated their commitment to reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke through improved cholesterol management. High cholesterol is one of the major controllable risk factors for heart disease, heart attack and stroke, but typically has no symptoms. Nearly one in three American adults have high LDL or “bad” cholesterol and need personalized treatment including lifestyle modifications or prescribed medication to manage their levels.
Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida, a physician-owned and operated medical practice, was formed in 1996 by many local physicians and has grown to become the largest physician-owned primary care practice in Southwest Florida. Medical specialties include family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics. Offices are conveniently located throughout Lee County.
