Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) today unveiled its plans for National High Blood Pressure Education Month – including free patient resources and a national event – as part of the Measure Up/Pressure Down™ three-year campaign to improve high blood pressure prevention, detection, and control.

National High Blood Pressure Education Month is recognized annually in May and provides a timely opportunity to improve care by engaging patients, physicians, communities, and the media in the campaign's efforts to address this national health issue. To date, nearly 150 medical groups and health systems have joined the campaign’s national efforts and are committed to improving the nation’s high blood pressure control rates for all Americans.

AMGF will convene the first Measure Up/Pressure Down™ National Day of Action: Roll Up Your Sleeves! on Thursday, May 15. On this one day, campaign supporters around the country will roll up their sleeves and take at least one “action” in their local community to raise awareness of high blood pressure to patients, providers, employees, or the general public. Over 25 campaign supporters have already reported plans for May 15, including free blood pressure screenings and counseling, media outreach, patient educational resources, employee brown bag lunches, social media engagement, and more.

“We are extremely proud to lead campaign supporters in the first Measure Up/Pressure Down™ National Day of Action: Roll Up Your Sleeves! during National High Blood Pressure Education Month. With the enthusiastic support and ‘action’ plans of our medical groups, sponsors, and partners, we will be able to educate thousands of patients with or at risk of high blood pressure and truly improve the health of the nation throughout May,” said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA).

In support of the National Day of Action, Measure Up/Pressure Down™ released a toolkit, checklist, web badges, web banners, and sample social media posts for the use of participating medical groups, health systems, sponsors, and partner organizations. AMGF will also lead “actions” for blood pressure control on May 15, including a free blood pressure screening for staff; social media giveaways on Twitter and Facebook made possible by in-kind donations by the American Heart Association, WomenHeart, and Withings; and travel to local medical groups hosting National Day of Action events.

Additionally, Measure Up/Pressure Down™ will engage and educate stakeholders throughout the month with the distribution of free resources, including high blood pressure patient and medical group success stories and interviews, the recently released Circulation Nation: Your Roadmap to Managing High Blood Pressure patient education booklet, and a series of patient tip sheets that will be unveiled throughout the month on social media and the campaign website.

For more information about the campaign and how you can get involved in its National High Blood Pressure Education Month activities, visit www.MeasureUpPressureDown.com.

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About the Measure Up/Pressure Down™ CampaignThe American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF), the nonprofit arm of the American Medical Group Association, launched Measure Up/Pressure Down™-a three-year national campaign to improve care and reduce the burden of high blood pressure on November 29, 2012. Measure Up/Pressure Down™ includes nearly 150 medical groups, health systems and national partners such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, and Geisinger Health System. The goal of the three-year campaign is to have 80 percent of high blood pressure patients in control of their condition by 2016. www.measureuppressuredown.com

About AMGFThe American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the American Medical Group Association and it supports and disseminates research on better ways to deliver health care that is scientifically sound and value-based. AMGF also develops and supports educational programs to enable all stakeholders-providers, payers, policymakers and patients to translate the evidence of what works best into everyday practice. www.amga.org/foundation

About AMGAThe American Medical Group Association (AMGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing medical groups, health systems, and other organized systems of care, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated delivery systems. AMGA is a leading voice in advocating for efficient, team-based, and accountable care. AMGA members encompass all models of organized systems of care in the healthcare industry, including: physician-owned, independent group practices, integrated delivery systems, hospital-affiliated medical groups, independent practice associations (IPAs), academic and faculty practices, accountable care organizations, and high-performing health systems. More than 130,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, providing healthcare services for 120 million patients (approximately one in three Americans). Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for these organizations, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs, publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org