Dr. Lisa Cooper, MD, MPH Presents Webinar for Aledade

On Wednesday, June 22, 2022, Dr. Lisa Cooper, MD, MPH, presented her webinar “Reducing Disparities and Controlling Hypertension in Primary Care” as part of Aledade’s library of webinars focused on health care policy updates and a variety of value-based care topics.

Aledade, a primary care enablement company, works to help physicians to build strong, impactful relationships with their patients. As part of this effort, Aledade provides a wealth of resources on their website, including case studies, toolkits, podcasts, and webinars.

Dr. Cooper’s hour-long webinar focused on past and present studies conducted by the Center for Health Equity, including the RICH LIFE study. Through the webinar, Dr. Cooper addressed:

• Contributors to racial and socioeconomic disparities in hypertension control at the level of individual patients, the community, health professionals, and the healthcare system
• Three intervention approaches that hold promise for reducing disparities in hypertension control
• Key challenges and opportunities in advancing equity in hypertension control

Dr. Cooper discussed multilevel influences on disparities, which include: the individual patient, the provider, the organization/practice setting, and state and national health policies. Dr. Cooper spoke to the challenges faced by physicians because of influences beyond their control, such as the patient’s family situation, the local community, and government policies. Despite these challenges, Dr. Cooper maintained that the influences that health professionals can control – provider standards, organizational policies, and leadership support – can have a positive influence on patient outcomes.

“We often feel, as health professionals, that we are limited in how well we can affect other things going on in the local community or at the policy level. At the organizational level there are so many things that we can do in terms of organizational orientation, resources, and leadership support – so many things that we can do at those levels.”

The webinar was met with enthusiasm and resulted in a lively Q&A session following the presentation. To view the recorded Webinar, please visit Reducing Disparities and Controlling Hypertension in Primary Care (aledade.com).