The role of the doctor-nurse team in control of hypertension in family practice in Israel

In the 1960s and early 1970s, only 9.4% of all hypertensives in Israel were under control, due to a low rate of detection, a high dropout rate and a low rate of patient compliance. In the past seven years, a program of screening and careful follow-up of hypertensives in over 400 community clinics has been introduced, based on the active participation of clinic nurses in addition to that of family doctors. This program has been associated with a large increase in the number of detected hypertensives, a fall in the dropout rate, and a decrease in patient waiting time. In one study of 5,541 hypertensives treated initially by a doctor alone, and then by the doctor-nurse team, the number of treated hypertensives who were under control increased from 42.1 to 84.6%. The improvement in hypertension control has paralleled the reduction in cardiovascular disease in Israel.