Delivering hypertension care in private-sector clinics of urban slum areas of India: the Mumbai Hypertension Project

In India, the private sector provides 70% of the total outpatient medical care. This study describes the Mumbai Hypertension Project, which aimed to deliver a standard hypertension management package in private sector clinics situated in urban slums. The project was conducted in two wards (one “lean” and one “intensive”) with 82 private providers in each. All hypertensive patients received free drug vouchers, baseline serum creatinine, adherence support, self-management counseling and follow-up calls. In the intensive-ward, project supported hub agents facilitated uptake of services. A total of 13,184 hypertensive patients were registered from January 2019 to February 2020. Baseline blood pressure (BP) control rates were higher in the intensive-ward (30%) compared with the lean-ward (13%). During the 14-month project period, 6752 (51%) patients followed-up, with participants in the intensive-ward more likely to follow-up (aOR: 2.31; p < 0.001). By project end, the 3–6-month cohort control rate changed little from baseline—29% for intensive ward and 14% for lean ward. Among those who followed up, proportion with controlled BP increased 13 percentage points in the intensive ward and 16 percentage points in the lean ward; median time to BP control was 97 days in the intensive-ward and 153 days in lean-ward (p < 0.001). Despite multiple quality-improvement interventions in Mumbai private sector clinics, loss to follow-up remained high, and BP control rates only improved in patients who followed up; but did not improve overall. Only with new systems to organize and incentivize patient follow-up will the Indian private sector contribute to achieving national hypertension control goals.