September 14, 2011

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) yesterday announced a new “Million Hearts” campaign being launched by a public-private partnership of several government and private sector organizations, with the aim of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes within the next five years by implementing proven, effective, inexpensive preventive strategies.

“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 release issued by HHS. The release also said that “Currently, cardiovascular disease costs $444 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity in Americans.”

According to an article by Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the CDC, and Donald M. Berwick, M.D., M.P.P, Administrator of CMS, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on September 13, 2011, to coincide with the launch of the Million Hearts campaign: “Each year, more than 2 million Americans have a heart attack or stroke, and more than 800,000 of them die; cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and the largest cause of lower life expectancy among blacks. Related medical costs and productivity losses approach $450 billion annually, and inflation-adjusted direct medical costs are projected to triple over the next two decades if present trends continue.”

Focus of the Million Hearts Campaign

The Million Hearts Campaign, this initiative will be focused on two overall goals:

1. Empowering Americans to make healthy choices such as preventing tobacco use and reducing sodium and trans fat consumption. This can reduce the number of people who need medical treatment such as blood pressure or cholesterol medications to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
2. Improving care for people who do need treatment by encouraging a targeted focus on the “ABCS” – Aspirin for people at risk, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management and Smoking cessation – which address the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and can help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.”

According to HHS, Million Hearts aims to achieve the following specific goals within the next five years: “If we succeed in achieving our Million Hearts goals, 10 million more Americans with high blood pressure will have it under control, 20 million more Americans with high cholesterol will have it under control, and 4 million fewer Americans will smoke by 2017,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden.

“The treatment of heart disease and stroke account for about $1 of every $6 spent on health care in this country,” according to CMS Administrator Donald Berwick. “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 health care providers and patients, CMS can help prevent strokes, heart attacks and avoidable human suffering,” he said.

Private-Public Partnership Contributions to the Initiative

The several private sector partners in the public-private partnership of organizations launching the Million Hearts campaign have announced several community and public service initiatives through which each of them will help improve Americans’ diets, reduce tobacco use, improve medication adherence, and otherwise help meet the goals of the Million Hearts campaign.

All of the current public and private sector participants in the campaign and their proposed contributions and initiatives are listed on the Million Hearts website.

HHS said that it will “target more than $200 million in new and refocused investments to achieve the goals of Million Hearts.”

Several new programs dedicated to meeting the goals of the Million Hearts campaign by the CDC, CMS, the FDA, and other government agencies, and their funding, are listed in the HHS release announcing the campaign.

Beginning in 2012, HRSA will require all community health centers to report annually on the ABCS measures to track and improve performance, including new measures for 2012 for aspirin use and cholesterol screening. These efforts will help to improve ABCS care for more than 20 million patients.