State Program: West Virginia
Basic Implementation

The West Virginia Department of Health began receiving funds from CDC in 2008 to support a state heart and stroke prevention program.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• More than 1 out of 4 deaths in West Virginia are due to heart disease. (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009).
   
• 5,311 West Virginians died from heart disease in 2006 (25.7 percent of total deaths in West Virginia). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
   
• 1,072 West Virginians died from stroke in 2006 (5.2 percent of total deaths in West Virginia). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)

See the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources' report, The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in West Virginia—July 2001,* for more heart disease and stroke burden statistics.

• According to 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in West Virginia reported the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke—
   
  • 33.3% had high blood pressure
  • 42.4% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol
  • 10.8% had diabetes
  • 26.9% were current smokers
  • 68.0% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
  • 54.1% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days
  • 80.3% ate fruit and vegetables less than 5 times a day

Click HERE to see a text version of this graph.

State Highlights

• Working with the Office of Emergency Services, the West Virginia Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program has trained 8 Regional EMS providers to implement an electronic data tracking system (PREMIS). This system will document pre-hospital patient care and Emergency Service provider credentials; offer the Emergency Medical Service toolkit developed in North Carolina to evaluate emergency service delivery; and house SMARTT, an information system to help manage health care resources such as hospital bed availability and specialty service capability. In January 2009, all EMS reporting was on paper, and by July 2009, 4 regions were creating reports with enhanced data quality using the electronic system.



• Statewide Advanced Stroke Life Support training will be offered to EMS staff 2009 to 2010.



• Using data from Federally Qualified Community Health Centers and Free Clinics electronic medical records, the state has developed registries for chronic disease risk factors such as hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes. Ten additional clinics have been added to the Chronic Disease Registry. 35 centers conduct cardiovascular disease provider education with staff to improve quality of patient care.



• The WV University Office of Health Services Research (OHSR) Chronic Disease Electronic Management System (CDEMS) Primary Care Project provides federally qualified health centers with software and technical assistance to create the following: a cardiovascular patient registry; patient and provider reminders; a patient visit documentation form; and incorporates evidence-based clinical guidelines for hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors and co-morbidities. The OHSR Chronic Disease Electronic Management System (CDEMS) Primary Care Project is being conducted by the WV University Office of Health Services Research (OHSR). OHSR built a patient registry in each clinic, populated the registry with cardiovascular disease patients, educated providers on evidence based clinical guidelines, and provided technical assistance to clinical staff on use of the software to generate patient visit documentation sheets. These documentation sheets incorporate clinical guidelines, patient reminders, provider reminders, record laboratory and other test results, and patient education activities.  The goal of this project is to improve the level of care provided to cardiovascular patients in West Virginia. In the West Virginia State Health Department currently, the WV Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, the WVCHP, and the WV Asthma Education Program have patient registries in a total of 32 Primary Care Centers.



• The West Virginia Stroke Systems of Care pilot project is regionalizing stroke care using a hub and spoke model with one-call convenience for rural practitioners.  It engages the emergency medical system as an effective way to ensure that stroke patients received timely and appropriate care.



• The WV Department of health is partnering with the American Heart Association State Affiliate, to increase awareness of heart health and risk factor reduction messages aimed at women as health messengers, health care consumers, and family health care gatekeepers using the Go Red and Love Your Heart Campaigns. These messages will help women recognize their unique signs and symptoms of heart attack and ways to protect their own heart health as well as that of their loved ones.

To view county-by-county data, visit our interactive map site at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/library/maps/statemaps.htm.

 
*Links to non–Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
 

Page last reviewed: November 6, 2009
Page last modified: November 6, 2009
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion