QUALITY PROFILES: THE LEADERSHIP SERIES

FOCUS ON CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

The purpose of Quality Profiles is to provide organizations with proven road maps to success, and at the same time recognize some of the plans that have done a noteworthy job of improving job of improving the health status of their members. Although these profiles focus on the work of health plans, many organizations can learn from these lessons and apply them to other delivery systems.

As you’ll discover in this issue of Quality Profiles, improving the quality of primary and secondary preventive care is emerging as a vital part of the future of cardiovascular QI. While the quality of “reactive” medicine--that is, treating people after they have developed overt disease--is vital, the quality of preventive medical care is equally important to reducing avoidable morbidity and mortality. This issue profiles several QI initiatives that illustrate how health plans, working with patients and the medical community, are not only improving the quality of cardiovascular care, but are enhancing diagnosis and management of risk factors as well. It is the sincere hope of NCQA and Pfizer that Quality Profiles will provide tools to help health care organizations improve the quality of their own cardiovascular preventive care programs and take patient care to the next higher level.

Use the Table of Contents to learn more about Quality Profiles: The Leadership Series—Focus on Cardiovascular Disease.