The Million Hearts™ Initiative: How nurse practitioners can help lead

Abstract

Every 39 seconds a person in the United States dies from a heart attack or stroke (Roger et al., 2012). Those who survive frequently have residual symptoms or disabilities and poor quality of life. Furthermore, these conditions are expensive for our nation, accounting for nearly $444 billion in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity in 2010 (Heidenriech et al., 2011). Heart attacks and strokes, two of the top four killers of Americans, are largely preventable, regardless of family history. Million Hearts™, launched in September 2011 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the United States over the next 5 years. The campaign is focusing entirely on prevention in order to produce, on average, a 10% reduction in the rate of acute cardiovascular (CV) events a year for the next 5 years.