The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with several key initial partners launched Million Hearts, an initiative announced Tuesday that aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.
Currently, cardiovascular disease costs $444 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity in the United States.
[See also: HHS announces $250M investment to promote public health and wellness]
“Heart disease causes 1 of every 3 American deaths and constitutes 17 percent of overall national health spending,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a press release announcing the initiative. “By enlisting partners from across the health sector, Million Hearts will create a national focus on combating heart disease.”
Million Hearts is focused on empowering Americans to make healthy choices, such as preventing tobacco use and reducing trans fat consumption, and improving care for people who need treatment.
“The treatment of heart disease and stroke account for about $1 of every $6 spent on healthcare in this country,” said Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) administrator in a statement. “By shifting our focus from paying for how much care is provided to how to get the best health for Americans and putting more tools into the hands of healthcare providers and patients, CMS can help prevent strokes, heart attacks and avoidable human suffering.”
Private sector partners include:
• The American Heart Association will help monitor progress of the initiative’s goals and provide consumers with access to their heart health management tools, including Heart 360, My Life Check, and the Heart Attack Risk Calculator.
• Walgreens will engage its more than 26,000 healthcare providers to support the Million Hearts initiative’s prevention goal by providing blood pressure testing at no charge in consultation with a Walgreens pharmacist or Take Care Clinic Nurse Practitioners.
• The Y is aiming to expand coverage of the Y’s Diabetes Prevention Program as well as the successful National Diabetes Prevention Program and CDC’s Healthy Communities Program to better address risks for diabetes, heart attacks and stroke.
• America’s Health Insurance Plans and its members will amplify their ongoing commitment to reduce cardiovascular disease, which includes community-based collaborations to reduce the burden of obesity and other risk factors for heart disease (UnitedHealthcare), beneficiary fitness programs (WellPoint), initiatives to reduce ethnic and racial disparities in cardiovascular health (Aetna) and programs to better manage chronic disease (Cigna).
• The American Pharmacists’ Association and the American Pharmacists’ Association Foundation will encourage its more than 62,000 members to engage in the Million Hearts Campaign by raising awareness with their patients and their communities.
• The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and the Alliance for Patient Medication Safety will encourage state pharmacy associations and their members to engage in the Million Hearts Campaign throughout the year with many activities planned for American Pharmacists Month in October and beyond.
• The National Community Pharmacists Association will encourage all 23,000 independent community pharmacies to become involved in the initiative and continue to raise awareness through their publications and social media outlets.
“If we succeed in achieving our Million Hearts goals, 10 million more Americans with high blood pressure will have it under control," said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH in a statement, "20 million more Americans with high cholesterol will have it under control, and 4 million fewer Americans will smoke by 2017.”