JSI and Arbor Research to Support Hypertension Care Through Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring in Community Health Centers

Hypertension is a major driver of cardiovascular disease and a significant contributor to preventable illness and death in the United States. JSI was awarded a contract by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand and accelerate the adoption of Self-Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) monitoring as a fully integrated component of routine hypertension care in HRSA-funded health centers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 119.9 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure, yet fewer than one in four have it under control. High blood pressure is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and associated mortality. It contributes to over 660,000 deaths annually. Despite progress made through past efforts, more than 1.8 million HRSA-funded health center patients still have uncontrolled hypertension, with the highest burden concentrated in rural communities and low-income households.

“While health centers are doing substantial work to support patients with chronic diseases, 31% of health center patients have yet to achieve control of their hypertension,” says Emma Ansara, JSI’s SMBP Clinical and Quality Improvement Co-Lead. “This project is about improving hypertension control and preventing associated complications, such as chronic kidney disease.”

Nationwide, health centers serve one in seven primary care patients, including one-quarter of Medicaid beneficiaries and one-fifth of rural residents. Their patient-directed orientation and focus on quality and team-based care uniquely position health centers to positively influence hypertension control rates at the individual and population levels. HRSA’s National Hypertension Control Initiative demonstrated how participating health centers can improve these rates by integrating SMBP monitoring into team-based care models.

The project, Accelerating SMBP Integration to Control (Accelerating Chronic Disease Management Through SMBP and Community Wellness), in partnership with Arbor Research, will provide structured virtual technical assistance, practical implementation resources, and focused evaluation support to a cohort of 30–50 participating HRSA-funded health centers. This project’s approach will draw from JSI’s experience implementing more than 100 primary care-focused projects and 11 years providing national technical assistance through the Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality (HITEQ) Center to health centers on health information technology (IT) adoption, including assessment of digital tools and interoperability.

The JSI and Arbor team will support integration of SMBP into routine primary care workflows through structured, evidence-based technical assistance, including strengthening health center capacity for hypertension control, team-based care, and patient engagement. Additional priorities include providing practical implementation tools and supporting health centers to introduce or expand community wellness activities. These may include provider-led walking programs and community nutrition education as complementary strategies to chronic disease management.

By executing this approach across participating health centers, the project will advance sustainable SMBP integration, strengthen clinical care delivery, and establish a scalable framework for measurable, long-term hypertension control.