Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer in the United States regardless of gender or ethnicity. Health care expenditures for the treatment of heart disease in the U.S. are in excess of $150 billion dollars annually. Many Health Care Organizations are searching to find approaches for health care delivery that minimize adverse disease outcomes such as CVD by using disease prevention approaches that are cost effective. In addition, many payers are in desperate need of tools that can help determine the value of services delivered, track costs, and provide valid data that can be used to compare the same service delivered by a variety of providers. This proposal designs and tests the utility of a patient/clinician cardiovascular disease specific Intranet information system for the management/prevention of cardiovascular disease. This Intranet/web enabled computerized patient information gathering system called """"""""I CAN Prevent Heart Disease"""""""" (an Interactive Clinical Assessment Network to Prevent Heart Disease) contains an underlying database which will: a) possess a high quality patient/clinician interface for the input of data, b) provide real-time graphic feedback to depict CVD risk, progress in a variety of data points such as blood pressure and exercise using the data input by patients; and c) provide rapid and accurate retrieval of patient data. This system will provide an automated delivery of patient education materials each time the participant logs into the system to input data. In addition, we will determine whether interaction with the I CAN Prevent Heart Disease system: 1) alters participant motivation in learning about and changing behaviors for CVD risk reductions; 2) facilitates clinicians developing an individualized approach to CVD risk reduction; and 3) assists clinicians in monitoring patient progress. Finally, the investigator will explore the frequency patients might use the I CAN Prevent Heart Disease system to communicate with their clinicians.
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