Heart attack and stroke: two sides of the same coin

Healthcare Reform mandates employers to provide "First Dollar Coverage" for heart disease and stroke prevention. Heart disease and stroke are the number 1 and number 3 causes of death and disability in the US. Most can be prevented or delayed by 10 to 20 years. The total economic burden was estimated at nearly $500 billion for 2007 and they are a major cause to escalating healthcare cost.

By 2014, the law requires employers will make available to eligible employees premium discounts ranging from 30% to as much as 50% if employees meet specific preventive treatment goals. Heart disease and stroke prevention program will reduce employers' healthcare cost only if the program is evidenced-based and implemented successfully.

NJ Preventive Cardiology and Cholesterol Clinic has been preventing heart disease and stroke since 2001. Using an innovative clinical patient management system with published performance data and evidence-based therapies, NJPC has successfully treated most high risk patients to recommended treatment goals,  improved patient outcomes and lower healthcare cost.

Heart disease and stroke, the principal components of cardiovascular disease (CVD), are among the nation's leading causes of death and disability and the most expensive medical conditions for businesses.  The good news is that employers take preventive action to improve worker health and productivity and save on health care costs.

Jim is an employee in the high cardiovascular risk category - either because he has diagnosed heart disease or without clinical heart disease but with risk factors and Framingham risk score of over 20% or diabetes, so called CHD risk equivalent. Optimal cholesterol and blood pressure treatment together with smoking cessation can markedly reduce his risk for heart disease and stroke. Evidence-based preventive therapies reduce his cardiovascular risk and shift him from very high or high to a lower risk group in a few years. Lower risk means lower event rate. Lower event rate means lower consumption of expensive cardiovascular healthcare resources - fewer hospitalizations, fewer stents, fewer heart bypass surgeries. And in addition, better patient outcomes, fewer deaths, fewer disabilities. On the company-wide basis, this translates to significant savings over time.

The Return on Investment in a well-structured, well-run, evidence-based heart disease and stroke prevention clinic that successfully treats most high risk patients to goal is as much as $4 for every $1 invested.