Million Hearts
Campaign Aims to Lower Risk, Improve Care
By Carolyn M.
Clancy, M.D.
February 7, 2012
With Valentine’s
Day around the corner, hearts shapes are
everywhere - on cards, candy, and clothing. But
every day of the year, your heart plays a big
role in your health and well-being. And
conditions or habits that harm our hearts, like
high blood pressure or smoking, put our hearts
at risk.
The risk is
serious. Heart disease and strokes kill more
than 800,000 Americans each year and cost $445
billion each year, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
(PDF File,
PDF
Help). People with heart disease are often
unable to work or enjoy normal activities. They
are also at higher risk of early death.
To help combat
heart disease, especially heart attack and
stroke, HHS recently joined several groups that
include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, insurance
companies, and drug stores in a campaign called
Million
Hearts. Over the next 5 years, the partners
aim to help millions of Americans improve their
heart health by preventing and treating high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tobacco
use.
The goals are
ambitious. But the good news is that heart
disease can be prevented or reduced with two
approaches.
The first is
making healthy choices, like quitting smoking
(or never starting), and lowering the amount of
salt and trans fats we consume. Today, 19
percent of the U.S. population smokes; in 5
years, the partnership aims to cut that to 17
percent.
The second
approach is making treatment for heart disease
available for people who need it. Simple but
effective techniques, known as the "ABCS,"
help focus these efforts. The ABCS stand for:
Aspirin for people at risk, Blood pressure
control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking
cessation.
We have good
tools to treat heart disease, but they’re not
used enough. Today, less than half (47 percent)
of people at risk for heart disease take a daily
aspirin. The Million Hearts campaign hopes to
increase that to 65 percent by 2017. Reducing
salt intake, a factor in high blood pressure, by
20 percent, is another goal.
HHS is working
with partners to help attain the Million Hearts
goals. The partners include:
My Agency, the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),
supports the Million Hearts campaign and has
tools and knowledge that can support its goals.
For example, one
AHRQ-funded resource that highlights innovative
practices describes how pharmacists can help
people lower their risk for heart disease.
In the
HealthyHeartClub.com program, pharmacists
educate patients to lower their heart risk by
changing their diet, exercising more, and taking
the right medicines. Working with primary care
doctors, pharmacists meet with patients, email
them weekly, and provide access to classes and
tools that support their goals. It works! After
3 months, patients’ weight, blood pressure, and
daily activity all improved.
AHRQ’s Effective
Health Care Program produces free,
plain-language booklets that can help you learn
about treatment options for
high blood pressure and
high cholesterol. They describe treatment
options, discuss risks and benefits, and
identify areas where more research is needed.
All these
resources for the Million Hearts initiative have
one thing in common?they are an excellent source
of information to share with your health care
provider. Together, you can discuss steps you
need to take to be sure you’re healthy for many
more Valentine’s Days in the future.
I’m Dr. Carolyn
Clancy, and that’s my advice on how to navigate
the health care system.
Resources
U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services: Million
Hearts
New public-private initiative aims to
prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in
five years
http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/docs/Million_Hearts_Press_Release.pdf
[PDF
Help]
Million
Hearts
http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/
Heart Disease
Prevention: Million Hearts
http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/about-hd-prevention.shtml
Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality
AHRQ Innovations Exchange: Innovation
Profile
http://innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=3182
Effective
Health Care Program
Choosing Medications for High Blood
Pressure: A Review of the Research on ACEIs,
ARBs, and DRIs
http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/search-for-guides-reviews-and-reports/?pageaction=displayproduct&productID=75
Treating High
Cholesterol: A Guide for Adults
http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/search-for-guides-reviews-and-reports/?pageaction=displayproduct&productID=351
American
Heart Association
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
American
Heart Association/American Stroke Association
My Life Check
http://50.56.33.51/mlc01/main_en_US.html
America’s
Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)
AHIP Statement on Million Hearts Initiative
http://www.ahip.org/News/Press-Room/2011/AHIP-Statement-on-Million-Hearts-Initiative.aspx
The Y
The Y Joins CDC, HHS, CMS in Million Hearts
Initiative
http://www.ymca.net/news-releases/20110913-cdc.html
Current as of February 2012
Internet Citation:
Million Hearts Campaign Aims to Lower Risk,
Improve Care. Navigating the Health Care
System: Advice Columns from Dr. Carolyn Clancy,
February 7, 2012. Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/cc/cc020712.htm
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