National Heart Lung and Blood Institute creates national network to study cardiovascul...( November 28 2007 (Oakland CA) The N...),Health

November 28, 2007 (Oakland, CA) The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has provided $7.5 million over the next five years to establish a collaborative Cardiovascular Research Network, a national resource that will leverage the collective cardiovascular expertise, diverse community-based study populations and rich electronic data systems within Kaiser Permanente and eight other health plans in the HMO Research Network to better study the epidemiology, prevention, management and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases.

"This is the first research network that will be able to follow patients longitudinally - their care, medications, hospitalizations and vital status - which can directly lead to improvements in care delivery and patient outcomes, said Dr. John Rumsfeld, Chief Science Officer for the American College of Cardiology National Cardiovascular Data Registries. The combination of working with existing American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association clinical registries to follow patients' care and outcomes over time, as well as creating new registries where they dont already exist, is very powerful."

Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, it remains the leading cause of death and disability in the United States and one of the fastest rising causes of death and disability in the world. Led by Kaiser Permanente Division of Research investigator Alan S. Go, MD, the new CVRN network will initially conduct three core research projects over the next five years: 1) hypertension recognition, treatment and control 2) quality of care and outcomes of the blood thinner, warfarin, for atrial fibrillation and blood clots 3) and the use and outcomes of implantable cardiac defibrillators.

The goal of our collaborative network is to set up a structure and organize our research expertise to more rapidly study emerging cardiovascular research questions and to facilitate productive collaborations with
'/>"/>