Healthy Hearts Northwest

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Healthy Hearts Northwest has been established to give primary care practices in Idaho, Oregon and Washington the support they need to help patients live healthier and longer.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has funded the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation at Group Health Research Institute to conduct a three-year project that helps primary care practices improve their patients' cardiovascular health—while also building capacity for quality improvement. Healthy Hearts Northwest is led by the MacColl Center with its partners, Qualis Health, the Oregon Rural Practice Research Network and the Institute of Translational Health Sciences at the University of Washington. Healthy Hearts Northwest is a cooperative of AHRQ's EvidenceNOW initiative to advance heart health in primary care.

Practice Support

Qualis Health provides practice support to small to medium sized practices in Idaho and Washington. Practices that participate in Healthy Hearts Northwest receive the following benefits:

• 15 months of practice support
• Technical assistance for health information technology
• Coaching in quality improvement (QI)
• Opportunities to participate in trainings to build QI competencies

Improve Heart Health for Patients

Participating practices improve patients' cardiovascular outcomes through:

• Aspirin
• Blood pressure management
• Cholesterol management
• Smoking cessation

Strategic Experts

Healthy Hearts Northwest is led by organizations with 20 years of experience working with primary care practices:

• The MacColl Center for Health Call Innovation at Group Health Research Institute
• The Oregon Rural Practice Research Network (ORPRN) at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
• Qualis Health
• The Institute of Translational Health Sciences