We propose to test the translation of behavioral economics and social psychology theory and experience in other domains into an intervention that has the potential to improve control of hypertension and diminish its health impact. Blood pressure control requires that: (1) the patient see a physician; (2) the disease be recognized by the physician, (3) a medicine be prescribed; (4) the patient take the medicine; (5) the patient come back for additional visits to monitor the treatment; (6) the provider make adjustments as needed in the therapy; and (7) the patient adhere to the changes and continue to come in for monitoring. Factors interfere with this chain of events even among patients with a regular source of care, such as a community clinic. Due to the asymptomatic nature of the disease, lack of awareness of the consequences of uncontrolled BP, discounting of these consequences because they occur in the distant future, health beliefs that lead the individual not to believe that the treatment would be beneficial, competing demands, financial barriers, or medication side effects, these patients may not monitor their BP as often as they should, press their physicians about BP control, or adhere to medication regimens. For their part, physicians may not intensify treatment as indicated.
How would the combination of incentives that we propose in this study work in hypertension management? Monetary incentives could improve BP control by leading patients to monitor their BP and make physician visits for hypertension more frequently, "activating" patients to be more assertive about discussing treatment intensification with their providers when their BP is elevated or other issues regarding their therapy, and improving medication adherence. Thus a patient whose BP readings continue to be elevated because he or she is receiving inadequate monotherapy for their level of hypertension might be more motivated to remember to take their pills, check their readings regularly, and most importantly, get to the doctor to intensify the regimen when faced with a monetary incentive to reduce BP. Similarly, another patient might be more motivated to speak up and tell their physician that they are having trouble taking their current BP medicine because of its side-effects; rather that stopping their medication and suffering the consequences of uncontrolled hypertension, this "activated" patient may stimulate the physician to prescribe a different class of medicine that effectively controls the BP without side-effects. Although this experience may give the patient insight that they can get their blood pressure under control and keep it there for some time, the same concerns that initially interfered with BP control may lead patients to return to previous habits after the monetary incentive is withdrawn. They may be busy and not make the time to check their blood pressure, refill prescriptions, take their medicine, or see their doctor. For this reason, helping the patient identify intrinsic motivations to control their BP is necessary. Intrinsic motivations would help keep the patient continually aware of what is at stake (in terms of the people they care about, their roles in society, and their activities) if they do not take their medicines, fill their prescriptions, or follow up with the provider when blood pressure readings are not at target.
The challenge of achieving and sustaining hypertension control might usefully borrow terminology from clinical oncology, in which many treatments have 3 phases: induction, consolidation, and maintenance. For hypertension, we can envision a similar framework: induction of normal blood pressure through initiation and adjustment of medications and adherence to them (for which we expect monetary incentives to be most effective); consolidation in which the patient maintains a normal blood pressure for a period of time (reinforced by frequent feedback, ongoing incentives, and interventions aimed at making intrinsic motivations salient); and maintenance after withdrawal of the incentives, which can be reinforced by success reducing blood pressure coupled with identity priming and identity labeling to engender strong intrinsic motivation to continue.
