ACC/AHA Hypertension Guideline released Nov 2017
The stages of pre-hypertension, stage 1, and stage 2 are re-classified
No more pre-hypertension - Now referred to Elevated blood pressure (Systolic 120 – 129) ) and diastolic ( <80 )
Stage 1 hypertension now is systolic (130 -139) and diastolic (80 -89) medication is recommended for people already with CAD or if patient has at least 10% risk of CAD
Stage 2 – hypertension now is systolic (140 or >) and diastolic (90 or >)
More people could be deemed as having hypertension, but I think the new guideline is in line with treating the condition before it gets worse.
As far as coding/CDI in the inpatient setting more diagnosis of hypertension perhaps could lead to more combination codes of CKD and Heart failure.
In the outpatient setting more capture of HCC codes RXHCC187 – Hypertension and CMS-HCC 85 – CHF
MIPS quality measure 236 could be redefined- Percentage of patients 18-85 years of age who had a diagnosis of hypertension and whose blood pressure was adequately controlled (<140/90mmHg) during the measurement period.
What do you guys think? Could this affect CDI or maybe am overanalyzing... would love to read some of your comments
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/guidelines2017