Tackle Australia’s Biggest Killer With the Heart Health Check Toolkit for Practices

Coronary Heart Disease is Australia’s biggest killer. Approximately 2.5 million Australians are at a high risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke in the next five years, and more than half of these have not had an event previously.

Heart Health Checks support the specific assessment and management of absolute CVD risk in primary care for eligible patients 45 years and over (30 years and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients).

The Heart Foundation has launched the new Heart Health Check Toolkit. It is free and available online now to assist GPs, practice nurses and practice managers to streamline the assessment and management of absolute CVD risk. 

The Toolkit is a one-stop shop designed to assist general practice staff to easily assess and manage CVD risk in line with the latest guidance. It offers a range of tools and resources including assessment and management templates, quality improvement tools, patient engagement resources and much more.

By making the Heart Health Check easier to plan, recall and implement as per guidelines, more patients who are at risk of coronary heart disease in Australia will be identified and treated, ultimately lowering the morbidity and mortality of CVD.

“With a specific Heart Health Check item number, it is much easier to track heart health assessments and take a more proactive approach for our patients. The item number also allows us to leverage the use of our practice nurses to streamline the process.” – Associate Professor Ralph Audehm

Five Reasons to Check Out the Heart Health Check Toolkit

• Pre-filled assessment and management templates make it easier for you to collect CVD risk factor information and support your patients to manage their risk.
• The ‘quality improvement’ section of the Toolkit has all that your practice needs to kickstart continuous quality improvement as required by the PIP QI program.
• Re-engaging with your patients about their heart health has never been so important. Our patient invitation templates, receptionist guide and data recall recipes can be used to identify and recall your at-risk patients.
• Waiting room posters, animations and brochures will help you to engage with your patients about their heart health in an impactful way.
• Thinking about setting up a heart health promotional event? Our step-by-step guide can be used by the entire team to help you prepare.

For a more information, you can download the Heart Foundation’s Heart Health Check Toolkit Promotional Pack here, which hosts clickable links to the various free tools available to you and your practice.