'You Can't Improve What You Don't Measure': 3500 More Minnesotans with Heart Disease Getting 'Best' Care

Searchable data available at www.mnhealthscores.org

MINNEAPOLIS, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the last four years, more than 3,500 additional Minnesotans with heart disease or vascular disease have received 'optimal care' from their doctors and met evidence-based goals that will help them stay healthy, such as controlling their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This is due at least in part to work Minnesota physicians have been doing with the nonprofit organization MN Community Measurement to closely track and report how well physicians are doing in achieving health care goals and use that information to improve the quality of care.

According to the MN Department of Health, more than 20% of all deaths in Minnesota are due to heart disease and more than 6% are due to stroke, making them the second and third leading causes of death, respectively, in the state behind cancer. The disease has a significant financial cost as well, with hospital visits for heart disease patients costing more than $1.85 billion in 2008.

There are four things that doctors agree you should do if you have atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries," have a history of blood clots, or have had heart attacks in the past: keep your blood pressure low; keep your level of "bad" cholesterol low; take an aspirin daily; and don't smoke. Four things that can help you avoid a stroke or a heart attack. In reality, achieving those four things can be quite complicated for both patients and their doctors, requiring lifestyle changes and a regimen of pharmaceuticals that must be managed. "All doctors want their patients with heart disease to stay as healthy as possible, but in the past a doctor's approach to keeping a heart disease patient healthy might have been more scattershot – they might have tried this and that, with no consistent monitoring to keep careful track of the results," said Jim Chase, President of MN Community Measurement. "But here we're asking them to focus on four things and we're providing feedback to let them know how their approach is working."

The top performing clinic in 2011 is the Family HealthServices Minnesota White Bear Lake Clinic, which achieved those four goals of 'best care' for 70% of their patients with heart or vascular disease. They did it by giving each of their providers a monthly list of their patients with heart or vascular disease highlighting which patients were not meeting all four goals. Providers worked with each patient to create an "action plan" that included steps that the provider and patient agreed would help the patient achieve the four goals. The clinic also employed a care manager to contact patients 30 days after a visit to answer any questions and follow up with the patient about their activities under the action plan. "This shared decision-making between the patient and the provider is an important element in helping our patients take ownership of their own health care and achieve the health goals we've set with them. The follow-up call from the care manager also helps - they don't have to wait for their next office visit to ask me to adjust their medication or to get their questions answered. We find that this personal touch really helps them stay on track to better health," said Dr. Bruce Leppink of the White Bear Clinic.

"Doctors use our data at www.mnhealthscores.org to improve the care they're providing their patients, but we hope patients and their families will use it too, to take charge of their care and work with their doctors to make sure they're doing those things that will help them stay as healthy as possible," said Jim Chase, president of MN Community Measurement.

About MN Community Measurement
The non-profit organization behind www.mnhealthscores.org, MN Community Measurement is dedicated to improving the quality of health care in Minnesota by publicly reporting quality results. Founded by Minnesota's health plans and the Minnesota Medical Association, MN Community Measurement is a collaborative that works with health plans, clinics, employers and consumers to spur quality improvement, reduce health care costs and maximize value.

SOURCE MN Community Measurement