Figure 2. Time trends in medication intensification and systolic blood pressure (SBP) change, 2017 to 2019.

Medication intensification (prescription of a new drug class) (A) occurred in only 12% of patients overall, and occurred less commonly among White participants than other racial and ethnic groups. SBP change (B) among those patients in whom a medication intensification did occur, a drop in SBP of −15 mm Hg was observed on average, and this drop in SBP was consistent across all racial/ethnic groups. Each data point represents metric results from a 1‐year measurement period. Dates on the x axis represent the ends of those measurement periods (ie, the first measurement period starts on January 1, 2017 and ends on December 31, 2017 (Figure S2). Results are weighted averages across participating health systems and are given overall and by race and ethnicity. Light gray lines represent the blood pressure control outcomes for each of the individual health systems included in the time trend analyses, and demonstrate a wide degree of variability based on health system.