Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 10 percent of Kaiser Permanente members suffering from coronary artery disease and diabetes, which increases the risk for coronary artery disease. CMI helps Kaiser Permanente regions to increase cardiovascular health by sharing successful strategies across health care delivery and identifying programs and tools to improve performance and reduce overall cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
The ‘ALL Initiative’ has been a key Kaiser Permanente program to reduce heart attacks and strokes by aggressively enrolling patients with heart disease or members over 55 with diabetes in a program that included the use of a triad of medications: aspirin, lovastatin and lisinopril. CMI conducted a three-year clinical observation study, which showed that using the drug combination prevented 1,271 heart attacks and strokes. The study was published in the American Journal of Managed Care.