AHRQ heart health program focuses on aspirin use, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, smoking cessation
Since launching the EvidenceNOW project in May 2015, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has provided funding for seven regional research cooperatives, which have serviced 1,500 smaller primary care practices in 12 states.
David Meyers, MD, AHRQ’s chief medical officer, recently wrote a blog post on the agency’s website with an overview of the project.
AHRQ focuses on reducing the risk of MIs or strokes by promoting aspirin use for people at high risk of an MI or stroke, blood pressure control for people with hypertension, cholesterol management for people at risk for heart disease and smoking cessation. Collectively, the agency refers to those as the ABCs of heart health.
Meyers wrote that EvidenceNOW’s goal is to provide at least 70 percent of patients with ABCs services. He added that if 1,5000 practices in the program increased their ABCs by 10 percent, 250,000 more people would have their blood pressure under control and 250,000 additional people would manage their cholesterol successfully.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.