ABSTRACT
Hypertension is a highly prevalent disease among the black and Puerto Rican lower income population served by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Center. It is common in patients whose charts were randomly selected for auditing by the Health Care Evaluation Committee. The hypertension project was developed in late 1974. The initial goals of the project were: to screen charts of all adults to determine the percentage with hypertension; and to use these periodic reports as a stimulus to improve the care which the health center renders to hypertensive patients. The first task was to identify patients with hypertension in the registered adult population. Once we had identified patients with hypertension, the next task was to develop a system for surveillance. Once professional staff had identified patients with hypertension, the next task was to develop a system for surveillance.
