---
title: "Why Practices Participated"
url: https://healthyheartsintheheartland.org/practices-participating/
description: "The retrospective account of why small practices took part in H3, the coaching model, the ABCS measures, eligibility and the participation timeline."
published: 2026-08-10
updated: 2026-08-10
---

# Why Practices Participated

Published 2026-08-10

[Home](https://healthyheartsintheheartland.org/) / 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

### Onboarding

Winter '16 or Spring '16

- Consent
- Software installation
- Baseline survey

### Facilitation

Month 0–12

- Training and technical support to use QI tools
- Monthly reports and up to weekly coaching sessions
- Educational resources and opportunities (e.g., webinars, peer groups)
- Support to participate in quality and payer programs

### Monitoring

Months 12–18

- Data collection
- Access to tools and resources
- Exit survey at 18 months