Partner with Million Hearts® to Prevent Heart Attacks and Stroke

In This Issue “Janet, how would you like to help prevent a million heart attacks and strokes?” Tools You Can Use Quick Fact Million Hearts® in the Community The Science of Million Hearts® Do This! Connect with Us Million Hearts @MillionHeartsUS

“Janet, how would you like to help prevent a million heart attacks and strokes?” That question, asked by American College of Cardiology chief operating officer in the spring of 2011, changed my life. Since the launch of the Million Hearts® initiative in Fall 2011, all 50 states and the District of Columbia, hundreds of organizations, and thousands of people have answered—as I did—with an immediate, enthusiastic “Yes.” All have invested time, talents, and resources toward that audacious and achievable aim. Partnerships, science, and communications were the organizing “buckets” in the early stages of Million Hearts®. In today’s e-update, you will see how those roots continue to shape the initiative. Our team strives to bring you the best evidence of what works to improve cardiovascular health, and the tools to accelerate widespread implementation of those strategies. Preventing cardiovascular events everywhere and for everyone inspires us each day, but this goal is possible only through powerful partnerships, such as those featured below. The Million Hearts® e-update, website, social media channels, and regular partner discussions all provide opportunities to exchange knowledge, celebrate progress, and align actions with resources that can get the job done—all in the service of improving heart and brain health for all. As I step away from my beloved Million Hearts® to join the U.S. Surgeon General’s team, I want to thank the home team for its extraordinary dedication and our partners and others who are taking steps—small and large—to improve cardiovascular health at home, in communities, and in health care settings across the nation. For those of you who are not yet part of the Million Hearts® network, know that you too can prevent heart attacks and strokes, kidney disease, heart failure, and even some forms of dementia. Join Million Hearts®. Say “YES.” —Janet Wright, MD, FACC Executive Director, Million Hearts® Learn More about Million Hearts® Partners

Tools You Can Use Take a moment to talk about cholesterol. During American Heart Month in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraged health professionals and patients to have conversations about high cholesterol. Find shareable messages and graphics and details about other ways to continue the conversation on our event page. Start Your Own Cholesterol Conversation New AHRQ tool curates evidence-based strategies for clinicians and administrators. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) launched EvidenceNOW Tools for Change to help primary care practices sift through 100-plus evidence-based strategies for improving heart health by addressing the ABCS—aspirin use, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation. Explore AHRQ’s Online Tool Collection Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Change Package helps clinicians protect patients. The National Kidney Foundation released the CKD Change Package to support clinicians in outpatient care for kidney disease, a major risk factor for CVD. Check out the Change Package for practical ideas and evidence- and practice-based tools and resources.  Use the CKD Change Package Use the Million Hearts® cardiac rehabilitation (CR) surveillance methodology to assess CR performance and uptake. This administrative claims–based outpatient CR surveillance methodology can be applied to member databases within health insurance plans and health system databases to monitor and inform CR-related quality improvement efforts. Apply the CR Surveillance Methodology Quick Fact More than 3 in 4 black men and women have hypertension by age 55. Million Hearts® in the Community Calling all high performers in hypertension control! Are you a clinic, practice, or system that has achieved at least 80% hypertension control in your patient population? Million Hearts® wants to hear from you! Apply to be a 2019 Hypertension Control Champion and inspire others to protect patients’ cardiovascular health. Learn About the Challenge EPA air quality app can help protect people in real time during poor air quality events. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cardiologist and lab director Wayne Cascio details how smoke from California’s Camp Fire affected the health and lives of people living 100 miles away, and how EPA’s Smoke Sense app can help people monitor air quality. Read EPA’s Blog Entry and Find the App Collaborative program trains nurses to help more people participate in CR. The Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association helped launch the Million Hearts® CR Collaborative to increase CR participation and share best practices, because nurses play a pivotal role. Learn ways you can help. Take Action on CR Help Million Hearts® scale and spread self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP) use. The Million Hearts® SMBP Forum convenes implementers, facilitators, and other supporters quarterly to exchange knowledge, identify obstacles, and find solutions to advance the practice of SMBP nationwide. Find announcements, discussions, tools, and resources via the SMBP Healthcare Community. Join the SMBP Forum The Science of Million Hearts® Barbershop–pharmacist collaboration helps black men with hypertension sustain blood pressure control. (Circulation) Controlling modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease could lead to big reductions in heart events. (Circulation) Over 20 years, hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction increased among young adults, especially women. (Circulation)   Remote, non-physician–led management program helped more than 4 in 5 study patients control hypertension. (Clin Cardiol) Among CVD patients, low statin adherence is linked to higher risk of death. (JAMA Cardiol) Clinical guidelines synopsis summarizes 2018 guidelines on blood cholesterol management. (JAMA) Do This! Hypertension Control Champions are helping win the battle against high blood pressure in 35 states across the nation! That also means 16 states don’t have Champions—yet. We need your help encouraging practices that are achieving high rates of control to apply and join the nation of Champions! Apply to the 2019 Hypertension Control Challenge