Corresponding Author: Paul A. James, MD, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Dr, 01286-D PFP, Iowa City, IA 52242-1097 (paul-james@uiowa .edu). Clinical Review & Education Special Communication H ypertensionremainsoneofthemostimportantprevent- able contributors to disease and death. Abundant evi- dencefromrandomizedcontrolledtrials(RCTs)hasshown benefit of antihypertensive drug treatment in reducing important health outcomes in persons with hypertension.1-3 Clinical guide- linesareattheintersectionbetweenresearchevidenceandclinical actions that can improve patient outcomes. The Institute of Medi- cineReportClinicalPracticeGuidelinesWeCanTrustoutlinedapath- way to guideline development and is the approach that this panel aspired to in the creation of this report.4 The panel members appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8) used rigorous evidence-based methods, developing Evidence Statements and recommendations for blood pressure (BP) treatment based on a systematic review of the lit- erature to meet user needs, especially the needs of the primary care clinician. This report is an executive sum- mary of the evidence and is designed to provide clear recommendations for all clinicians. Major differ- ences from the previous JNC report are summarized in Table 1. The complete evidence summary and detailed description of the evidence review and methods are pro- vided online (see Supplement). The Process The panel members appointed to JNC 8 were selected from more than 400 nominees based on expertise in hypertension (n = 14), primary care (n = 6), including geriatrics (n = 2), cardiology (n = 2), nephrology (n = 3), nursing (n = 1), pharmacology (n = 2), clinical trials (n = 6), evidence-based medicine (n = 3), epidemiology (n = 1), informatics (n = 4), and the development and implementa- tion of clinical guidelines in systems of care (n = 4). The panel also included a senior scientist from the National In- stituteofDiabetesandDigestiveandKidneyDiseases(NIDDK),ase- nior medical officer from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Insti- tute(NHLBI),andaseniorscientistfromNHLBI,whowithdrewfrom authorship prior to publication. 