Why is it important to control blood pressure if you have diabetes?

Diabetes increases your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. High blood pressure makes the heart work harder and it can lead to heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.

How should doctors help control blood pressure?

Doctors should work with you to control your blood pressure. Doctors can help in many ways. They can help you plan to eat food with little or no salt, maintain a healthy weight, stay physically active, and stop smoking. Blood pressure for people with diabetes is normal when it is below 140/90. If your blood pressure is above normal, doctors can also order medicine that will help lower it.

Talk with your doctor and health plan to find out about what other services are available. Many health plans offer additional support and resources for patients with diabetes who want to better control their blood pressure. These additional services may be educational materials (online and in print), classes or support groups, home blood pressure monitoring, or phone counseling.

What do the stars mean?

The scores show how well each health plan did at making sure patients 18 to 75 years of age with diabetes (types 1 and 2) had blood pressure levels below 140/90, which indicates good control. A higher score means more patients got the right care at the right time.

The scores are based on information from at least 30 health plan member administrative records in 2023. Some plans also use patient medical records, which are often more complete and result in higher scores. Plans that decide not to use medical records are likely to have lower scores.