Million Hearts Resources
Million Hearts has various tools to enhance heart disease and stroke prevention and treatment efforts. Topic areas include cholesterol management, cardiac rehabilitation, hypertension control, health IT, physical activity, and tobacco use. Specific protocols are also included below.
Hypertension Change Package
The Hypertension Control Change Package (HCCP) presents a listing of process improvements that outpatient clinical settings can implement as they seek optimal hypertension (HTN) control. It is composed of change concepts, change ideas, and evidence- or practice-based tools and resources.
Hypertension Protocol (PDF)
The Million Hearts establishes a protocol for standardized treatment to improve BP control by clarifying titration intervals revealing new treatment options and expanding the types of staff that can assist in timely follow-up with patients.
The Best Practices Guide for CVD Prevention highlights strategies that have been found to be effective for widespread control of hypertension and hyperlipidemia, but which are not yet being used widely as standard practice.
The HEARTS technical package provides a set of effective, practical interventions for strengthening the management of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in primary health care. The aim is to prevent cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes) by ensuring equitable access to continuous, standardized, high-quality care for people at high risk.
Target: BP™ is a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP). Target: BP helps health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve BP control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations committed to improving BP control.
A check list that can be used as a guide to provide effective provider-patient communication during visits with patients working to control high blood pressure.
The Target: BP Recognition Program celebrates physician practices and health systems, who treat patients with hypertension, for achieving blood pressure control rates at or above 70 percent within the populations they serve.
The Provider Telehealth Visits Checklist for Blood Pressure and Diabetes Management is developed by Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) to guide practices to prepare and conduct telehealth visits focused on blood pressure control and diabetes management. Use the checklist to improve chronic disease management for at-risk patients.
A handout with information about hypertension medication.
Guideline Driven Management of HTN
Listen to this 58-minute webinar hosting Dr. Robert Carey from the University of Virginia and co-author of the 2017 AHA/American College of Cardiology clinical practice guidelines review important findings on the prevention, detection, and management of hypertension.
The CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention created the Data Trends & Maps online tool to allow for searching for and viewing of health indicators related to heart disease and stroke prevention. Indicators fall into two main categories: Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors. Each category has subcategories, and indicators are organized under the subcategories. Priority Indicators are associated with priority areas, including ABCS, AHA 2020 Goals: Cardiovascular Health Metrics, Healthy People 2020 and Million Hearts.
A collection of behavioral health risk data at the state and local level. Cardiovascular-related prevalence data includes cholesterol awareness, e-cigarette use, hypertension awareness and tobacco use.
This section (pages 112–141) of the ABCS Toolkit for the Practice Facilitator contains checklists to help practices track quality measures for heart health and other important screenings.