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Why Practices Participated

H3 was a research project working with small practice clinics in the Midwest to implement and evaluate quality improvement strategies for cardiovascular care.

Why Practices Participated

H3 is a research project that may have helped practices:

• Strengthen prevention for heart disease and stroke by focusing on the ABCS — Aspirin, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management and Smoking cessation;
• Build or enhance infrastructure to report and use quality data to improve care;
• Generate new opportunities for providers to earn continuing medical education (CME) credits and maintain board certifications;
• Prepare to take advantage of fee-for-service reimbursement opportunities and quality-based incentive programs; and
• Prepare for our healthcare system’s rapid shift toward value-based reimbursement.

Individualized Coaching at the Center of H3

H3 helped practices implement strategies to monitor patient cardiovascular care. For one year, expert facilitators supported small practice clinics as they:

• Optimized electronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support functionality.
• Implemented and modified office-based protocols. Coaching incorporated Million Hearts best practices.
• Encouraged team-based approaches.
• Collected and analyzed clinical quality measures.

Facilitators presented evidence-based tools proven to improve cardiovascular quality of care in primary care settings. The H3 research tested point-of-care strategies alone versus point-of-care plus population health management strategies.

Heart Health Measures that Matter

The quality measures at the center of H3 are known as “ABCS” — aspirin when appropriate, blood pressure control, cholesterol management and smoking cessation.

Eligibility

The H3 consortium included small practice providers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Recruitment is now closed.

Clinics were eligible to participate if they:

• Had ≤ 10 providers (MD, DO, NP, PA)
• Were focused on adult primary care
• Had a certified electronic health record system
• Were not currently receiving significant quality improvement support

Participation Timeline