Million Hearts

The W.Va. Health Improvement Institute is working to help advance the Million Hearts® campaign in West Virginia. We are looking at connecting with providers and promoting participation in the campaign's ABCs.
- Aspirin
- Blood Pressure Control
- Cholesterol Management
- Smoking Cessation

Million Hearts® is a national initiative to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Million Hearts® brings together communities, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private-sector partners from across the country to fight heart disease and stroke. It is a critical element of the National Quality Strategy and has the potential to help improve the health of millions of Americans by improving the ABCs- Aspirin when appropriate, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation.

The initiative aims to help providers and practices improve health outcomes (for example, hypertensive patients) by leveraging health information technology (IT) to take targeted but impactful action on the ABCs through Million Hearts® These providers also can improve clinical quality improvement. Quality improvement can sound complex, but it can be as simple as finding ways to do our work better, faster and easier, and health IT tools can be great resources. For example, high blood pressure (hypertension) affects one in three adults in the U.S. High blood pressure increases risk for heart attacks or strokes. Implementing simple practice workflow changes to monitor and regularly measure blood pressure, then recommending healthy lifestyle changes or medication to control high blood pressure can save lives.

The goal is to help 1,000 providers leverage Health IT to track and measure success on two key Million Hearts® measures: Blood Pressure Control and Smoking Cessation.

Learn more: http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/million-hearts

RESOURCES:
Check out the Million Hearts Infographic, which looks at how heart disease affects the U.S. population, the components of the Million Hearts initiative and the 2017 goals. You can also listen to the Million Hearts Podcast where Angie Walker, Office Manager of Dr. Randy Walker Family Practice and Allergy Clinic – located in De Queen, AR – provide an overview of the Million Hearts program and discusses why it’s advantageous for practices to join Million Hearts through a regional extension center.

ONC Million Hearts Whiteboard Animation - click to watch

Bayer "I Am Pro Heart" Campaign - http://www.iamproheart.com/