Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is far and away the leading cause of death in the United States. However, since 1975, mortality rates for CHD have declined by approximately 28% and 45% of this decline is attributed to the improvement in medical therapies for coronary disease. 55% of this decrease is due to modifications in cardiac risk factors (smoking, hypertension, diet, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity, obesity).

The foundation of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) cardiovascular health initiatives are based on prevention and patient education. The VHA has developed aggressive programs targeting the cardiac risk factors noted above. Efforts towards the prevention and treatment of Heart Disease include: the routine monitoring and tracking of patients’ blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking cessation programs which have significantly decreased the number of cigarette smoking veterans, and the VHA’s initiative towards Managing Overweight/Obese Veterans Everywhere (MOVE).

VA healthcare considers education and prevention intrinsically related to each other. Patients are educated not only about the risk factors of heart disease, but the symptom of heart attacks. Effective treatment of a patient who has had a heart attack depends primarily on timely care, diagnosis, and proper treatment.

Recognition of the VHA as a leader in quality care is highly evident by major patient satisfaction surveying bodies. A recent RAND Survey revealed that the VHA outperforms all other sectors of American Healthcare in 294 measures of quality related to disease prevention and treatment. A New England Journal of Medicine study from 2003 compared the VHA to fee for service Medicare Providers on 11 measures related to quality. The VHA scored significantly higher on every single measure. For six straight years, the VHA has led private sector healthcare in the independent American Customer Satisfaction Index.