Million Hearts Initiative

Million Hearts brings together communities, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private-sector partners from across the country to fight heart disease and stroke. Heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the United States.  Heart disease is responsible for 1 of every 4 deaths in the country. The Million Hearts initiative will focus, coordinate, and enhance cardiovascular disease prevention activities across the public and private sectors in an unprecedented effort to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017 and demonstrate to the American people that improving the health system can save lives.

Stratis Health role

Improve Health for populations and communities

Stratis Health is a proud partner of Million Hearts, a nationwide initiative to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in a five year period (Sept 2011 through 2017). We support the initiative at the community level by convening a network of physician office teams and stakeholders to actively address cardiovascular health.

The Stratis Health Cardiac Health Network will engage in a three-year collaborative initiative to standardize, sustain, and spread improvements in coordinating delivery of cardiovascular health services.

Initiative goals

• Bring together Minnesota physician offices and local and national stakeholders as a sustainable network aimed at improving health in populations at risk for ischemic vascular disease and other vascular diseases
• Connect stakeholders and providers to implement evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing risk factors and addressing disparities that contribute to heart disease and stroke
• Support physician offices in implementing and measuring interventions to improve delivery of evidence-based care to at-risk patients

Stratis Health activities

The Cardiac Health Network is a learning and action network (LAN), a collaborative style of improvement initiative based on the principle “everyone teaches, everyone learns.” Through the Network, practice teams at all levels of performance will:

• Utilize population health data to coordinate care more effectively for cardiac patients by reporting performance in cardiac clinical measures.
• Engage patients and families to improve patient health and self-management.
• Develop sustainable processes and help spread successful changes to other practices and professionals.
• Participate in ongoing discussion and exchange of ideas, tools, and success stories with other Network members.

Healthcare providers, community stakeholders, and citizens are encouraged to participate. For more information or to participate in the initiative, contact:

Jerri Hiniker, BSN, RN, CPEHR

program manager, Stratis Health

952-853-8540