Tools You Can Use

Get tips on talking to your patients about smoking—The American College of Cardiology offers simple ways that health care professionals can talk to patients about smoking without adding substantial time to already demanding schedules.
Download an infographic on hypertension control for clinicians and providers—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a new infographic to help health care professionals recognize and manage patients’ high blood pressure using hypertension treatment protocols.
Check out the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA’s) new certificate training program—Pharmacy-Based Cardiovascular Disease Risk Management is APhA’s innovative and interactive certificate training program that explores the pharmacist’s role in cardiovascular disease risk management. This practice-based activity is the first step for pharmacists interested in learning the essential skills to successfully assess risk, promote cardiovascular disease prevention, and encourage patient adherence to therapy. Visit the website for a full list of offerings as well as licensed APhA partners presenting the course.

Million Hearts^® in the Community

Office on Minority Health leads celebration of Minority Health Month. April is National Minority Health Month. This year’s theme is “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity | The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America.” This theme commemorates the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s efforts toward eliminating health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities, mobilized by findings from the Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health, commonly referred to as the Heckler Report. Visit our partners at the Office on Minority Health to find a useful toolkit, event calendar, and action guide.
Black-owned barbershops are improving men’s health, one haircut at a time. Trained barbers in the African American community are playing a role beyond grooming by offering customers free blood pressure checks, health education, and referrals that lead to improved health through better management of diet, diabetes, and hypertension. This men’s health project was featured in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Innovations Exchange.
The Vermont Department of Health explains the DASH diet. The Vermont Department of Public Health has created a quick guide to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet for consumers and for providers to share with patients. The guide features full-color images and infographics to help breakdown the DASH diet basics, including keeping an eye on sodium.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is establishing a Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network (HCPLAN). HHS is working to advance private, public, and nonprofit activities to increase the adoption of value-based payments and alternative payment models. HCPLAN is part of a larger HHS effort to drive better care, smarter spending, and healthier people by improving care delivery, provider compensation, and information-sharing to support decision-making.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services helps clinicians and community partners improve blood pressure control. Relying on a proven model developed by 2013 Million Hearts^® Hypertension Control Champion Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services developed a manual for others in the state to consider when implementing hypertension control strategies. The approach confirms that when health care delivery systems work with the public health system, improved population health can be achieved quickly and efficiently.

Let us know what you're doing to advance Million Hearts^® in your community! Send us a short description with some key points, and we may feature you in a future e-Update!

The Science of Million Hearts^®

2014 hypertension guidelines for U.S. adults have potential to prevent thousands of cardiovascular events and deaths annually and save costs. A new article in the New England Journal of Medicine examined the cost-effectiveness of hypertension therapy according to age, hypertension stage, and the presence or absence of chronic kidney disease or diabetes, based on the 2014 hypertension guidelines. Researchers project that full guideline implementation would result in approximately 56,000 fewer cardiovascular events, 13,000 fewer deaths in U.S. adults, and overall cost savings for the public.
New data brief reveals continued rise in hypertension-related deaths from 2000 through 2013. The report shows an increasing trend in mortality for men and women aged 45–65 as well as adults 85 and older. The brief also reveals differences in the rates of hypertension-related deaths among Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks, and non-Hispanic whites; rates for non-Hispanic blacks continue to be the highest. Overall, the age-adjusted hypertension-related death rate increased 23.1%, whereas the rate for all other causes combined decreased 21.0%.

Congratulations 2014 Hypertension Control Champions! Full list of champions at millionhearts.hhs.gov

Congratulations 2014 Hypertension Control Champions! Million Hearts^® recently recognized 30 public and private health care practices and systems across the country for their success in achieving blood pressure control rates at or above 70% for adult patients. Together, these professionals cared for more than 3.5 million adults and represented small and large, urban and rural, and private and federal health practices and systems. We were excited to host this challenge for the third year and showcase more winners than ever before. Learn more about the 2014 Champions, and get ready for the 2015 challenge later this year!

—Janet Wright, MD, FACC
Executive Director, Million Hearts^®

Do This!
One Easy Way to Support Million Hearts^®

Join our partners Measure Up/Pressure Down^® for their National Day of Action: Roll Up Your Sleeves campaign on Thursday, May 7, 2015, by committing to take action to support blood pressure control and by sharing your activity with the campaign! For more information and resources check out their National Day of Action Toolkit.