On Feb. 27, Blue Shield’s celebrated the installation of a new free self-service blood pressure kiosk for East Oakland residents at the Roots Community Health Center.
As part of our #80forOakland campaign, Blue Shield of CA partnered with the American Heart Association to bring this vital service to residents in Oakland. We’re thrilled to work with Roots because its mission aligns with our own: to provide high-quality, affordable health care to those in the community. Roots also aims to improve health outcomes for uninsured and low-income residents of East Oakland and the entire Bay Area.
And the kiosk is already making a big impact! Since February, more than 200 people have used it to measure their blood pressure, 69% of whom were found to have hypertension and are now receiving the treatment they need. Having the self-service blood pressure kiosk at Roots Community Health Center is unique in that they can provide immediate access to culturally responsive, comprehensive healthcare, along with behavioral health and wraparound services.
This is important because blood pressure monitoring is often overlooked. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Health of America Index ranks hypertension as the top health condition affecting 12.5% of insured Americans. Hypertension was thought to affect 20% of all the patients the Roots Community Health Center treats — which was already 60% higher than the national average. With the new self-service blood pressure kiosk, Roots will have even better data to track and help members with more proactive prevention and intervention to treat this serious heart condition.