The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in partnership with Million Hearts, an HHS initiative to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes in five years, and the American Heart Association announces the Beat Down Blood Pressure Video Challenge (#HealthIT4UBP).  We invite the general public to create short (<2 min long), compelling videos sharing how they use health IT or consumer e-health tools to manage high blood pressure. Videos will demonstrate how health IT is used to support blood pressure control through activities such as routine monitoring of blood pressure, taking blood pressure medications as prescribed, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle that helps lower blood pressure.  High blood pressure (aka “hypertension”) affects one in three adults in the U.S. and is sometimes referred to as the “silent killer” because it damages the brain, heart, eyes, and kidneys while causing no symptoms.  If left untreated, high blood pressure can result in strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failure. Fortunately there are steps that each of us can take to prevent or manage high blood pressure and change our future health for the better.

Participants can demonstrate how they use health IT or consumer e-health tools to monitor their blood pressure, take medication as prescribed to maintain low blood pressure, and/or make lifestyle changes that reduce your risks and enhance heart health.  Participants may also discuss how they are partnering with their health care provider to leverage health IT to better monitor and manage their blood pressure.

Health care providers can demonstrate how they use electronic health records and other health IT to manage their patients’ hypertension, help them take their medications as prescribed, and help their patients adopt healthy habits that enhance control of blood pressure. 

1. Create an account on BloodPressure.Challenge.gov or log in with an existing ChallengePost account.
2. On BloodPressure.Challenge.gov, click "Accept this challenge" to register your interest in participating. This step ensures that you will receive important challenge updates.
3. Create a video and ensure the following (please read the Official Rules for complete requirements):
   • Your video shares ONE activity to prevent high blood pressure or monitor blood pressure
   • Your video demonstrates ONE technology used as part of or in support of the activity to prevent or monitor high blood pressure
   • Your video encourages viewers to visit www.HealthIT.gov
   • Your video is no longer than 2 minutes
4. Confirm that you have read and agreed to the Official Rules. Submit your video by including a title; a link to the video on YouTube.com or Vimeo.com; a text description of your activity to prevent high blood pressure or monitor blood pressure and how you use health IT; and a transcript of the words spoken in the video. Choose a category for the activity and technology used. Upload consent forms for everyone who appears in your video, regardless of age.

• Quality of the Idea
  Includes elements such as the relevance and originality of your use of health IT
• Implementation of the Idea
  Includes elements such as the quality of the video content, narrative and visual appearance
• Potential Impact on health IT adoption
  Includes whether the video is compelling, entertaining, instructive, and easy to follow so that others can perform similar activities using health technology