State Partners and Health Professionals

There are many different tools and resources you can use to address CVD risk factors in your patient population. As you know, the preventable risk factors for CVD are:

Risk factors that can be changed:

• High blood pressure

• High blood cholesterol

• Diabetes and prediabetes

• Smoking 

• Being overweight or obese 

• Being physically inactive 

• Unhealthy diet 

Vermont Hypertension Toolkit
This comprehensive resource was created by the Vermont Department of Health, Vermont Blueprint for Health, One Care Vermont, University of Vermont Medical Center and the New England Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization in 2017. It can be used by providers and clinical professionals to identify and manage hypertension in patient populations.

Million Hearts is a great resource for health care providers and other professionals who want to address the preventable risk factors and better identify and manage CVD in their patient populations. 

• The Million Hearts undiagnosed Hypertension video is a useful resource to learn about identifying patients with hypertension who have not been diagnosed. 

• Hiding in Plain Sight is a JAMA article on Undiagnosed Hypertension (JAMA. 2014;312(19):1973-1974. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.15388 Study: Underdiagnosis of Hypertension using electronic health records (Am J Hypertens. 2012 Jan; 25(1): 97–102.)

The links below provide information on the following subjects:

• Medication adherence

• Creating a hypertension protocol

• Self-measured blood pressure monitoring

• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Heart Disease website: fact sheets, data and statistics, maps, reports, guidelines and recommendations, training resources

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) study on intensive blood pressure management   

• Hypertension Change Package

• Women and Heart Disease

• You First (formerly Ladies First) - Providers

Consider referring these resources to your patients:

• American Heart Association (AHA) Cholesterol Guide

• My Life Check – Life’s Essential 8

• You First (formerly Ladies First)  

• The American Heart Association's Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations - Making Habits Stick