Using Epic, Researchers Find Widespread Underdiagnosis of Pediatric Hypertension

A study conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the MetroHealth System found that hypertension in pediatric patients goes undiagnosed about 77% of the time. Researchers analyzed 400,000 patient records in Epic and found that, while children are routinely screened for high blood pressure, it’s often undiagnosed because normal blood pressure ranges for children vary depending on sex, age, and height.

To account for these variables, MetroHealth implemented a program that uses decision support in Epic to automatically calculate the normal range for each child and notify clinicians of abnormal readings. The program has helped increase pediatric hypertension diagnosis rates by 100%.

Epic community members can implement MetroHealth’s decision support by downloading their Clinical Program. Learn more here.