Press Releases: Northwest
June 18, 2004
Kaiser Permanente Northwest recognized for work to prevent heart attacks
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kaiser Permanente Northwest has received the National Exemplary Practice Award for its efforts to reduce cardiovascular disease in people at high risk. The award is from the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Foundation, in partnership with the American Heart Association. It was given June 17 in Chicago at the Foundation's annual Excellence in Health Care Awards. According to the Foundation, the awards recognize health plans for their successful efforts to improve chronic care management through innovative models of care.
Kaiser Permanente's program involves nurses and pharmacists using electronic medical records to identify patients with a high risk for cardiovascular problems. This includes people over 40 who have diabetes and people who've had a prior heart attack or stroke. The nurses contact patients by phone and invite them to participate in a brief discussion of their current health and risk factors. More than 90 percent of patients who are contacted agree to participate.
Nurses discuss six factors that reduce risk for heart disease. They offer information, education, and referral to assistance in any area the patient may want help with. The six are:
- Quitting smoking.
- Taking an aspirin a day.
- Controlling blood pressure.
- Controlling low-density lipoproteins (LDL -- the so-called bad cholesterol).
- Eating a more heart healthy diet.
- Exercising more.
"Although physicians prescribe appropriate medications and recommend diet and exercise, statistics show that within a year -- for a variety of reasons -- a majority of patients aren't still following those instructions," says Tom Wright, RPh, supervisor of Kaiser Permanente's Medication Management Program. "They may stop taking a blood pressure or cholesterol-lowering medication because of side effects, cost, misunderstanding the chronic nature of the condition, Ore. lack of symptoms. Pharmacists troubleshoot what the problem is and help solve it with the patient. That might be simply improving their understanding of the importance of taking medication, Ore. putting them in touch with their physician so they can be switched to an alternative medication that works better for them."
About 5,500 people are currently contacted at least once or more a year by Kaiser Permanente to see how they are progressing. Some 99 percent of patients who participate report that they are very or extremely satisfied with the program.
"We know that just getting people at high risk to take an aspirin a day can significantly reduce their chance of having a heart attack," says Wright. "And we know there is significant reduction in heart attacks when patients stay on their blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications and quit smoking. So every person we help do that has a better chance of living longer without a disabling or fatal heart attack or stroke."
Kaiser Permanente is a prepaid, group practice health care organization founded in 1945 and serving the health needs of more than 440,000 people in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
