Saving 1 Million Lives

Saving 1 Million Lives

Million Hearts^® in the Community

• TMF Health Institute provides quality improvement assistance to health care providers to support Million Hearts^® in Texas. TMF Health Institute, the quality improvement organization for Texas, has helped more than 60 physician practices evaluate the ABCS metrics and put into action electronic health records systems to reach target populations and achieve improvement goals to prevent heart disease and stroke. To learn more about this and other Million Hearts^® efforts from the Texas Medical Association and Texas Department of State Health Services, read this recent article in Texas Medicine.
• Video: How Peninsula Community Health Services became a Million Hearts^® Hypertension Control Champion. Through team-based care, Peninsula Community Health Services in Washington State was able to achieve blood pressure control rates of more than 70% for its adult patient population. This organization’s success is a great example of how effective coordination of a health care team can translate to high rates of blood pressure control. Be on the lookout for the 2015 Million Hearts^® Hypertension Control Challenge announcement coming soon!
• CDC Foundation-led initiative educates African American men in the southeastern U.S. African American men are 25% more likely to die from heart disease compared with non-Hispanic white men. To help address this health disparity, the CDC Foundation is partnering with Pfizer and Quest Diagnostics to launch the Million Hearts^® “Healthy Is Strong” initiative. The campaign aims to raise awareness about preventing heart attacks and strokes, particularly among African American men ages 40–65 living in the Southeast, where cardiovascular disease rates are high.
• Health care professionals: Participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Million Hearts^® Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model. This opportunity enables health care professionals to design sustainable models of care that help reduce 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk and prevent heart attacks and strokes for tens of thousands of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. Application deadline is September 10.