Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the 2018 Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Challenge

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the launch of the 2018 Million Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control Challenge. Million Hearts[supreg] is a national initiative to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2022. In order to prevent one million events, we need to decrease smoking, sodium consumption and physical inactivity by 20%; improve performance on appropriate aspirin use, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation to 80%; and improve outcomes for priority populations. Over the last five years we have seen tremendous progress by provider and health care systems that focus on improving their performance in controlling blood pressure. Getting to 80% control would mean that 10 million more Americans would have their blood pressure under control, and be at substantially lower risk for strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular events. For more information about the initiative, visit https://millionhearts. hhs.gov/. The Million Hearts Hypertension Control challenge is an important way to call attention to the need for improved blood pressure control, provides a powerful motivation and target for clinicians, and will improve understanding of successful implementation strategies at the health system level. The Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge will identify clinicians, clinical practices, and health systems that have exceptional rates of hypertension control and recognize them as 2018 Million Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control Champions. To support improved quality of care delivered to patients with hypertension, Million Hearts[supreg] will document and further disseminate the systems, strategies, processes, and staffing that contribute to the exceptional blood pressure control rates achieved by Champions.