Developing a ‘Culture of Health’ to Reduce Cardiometabolic Risk

Welcome to this special issue of Consultant, which coincides with the Primary Care Cardiometabolic Risk Summit (CRS), powered by Consultant, from October 20-22 in Dallas, Texas. Like CRS, this supplement is dedicated to the diagnosis, management, and prevention of cardiometabolic disorders, including hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity.

It has become critically important to not only fight this American epidemic with existing clinical strategies and medications, but also to explore innovative new ways to improve patients’ cardiometabolic health. CRS faculty member James J. Matera, DO, and his colleagues, Kimberly Simers, MHA, and Alison Cleary, MSN, offer details about one such strategy in their article, “The Effect of Health Coaching and Population Health on Hypertension.”

They describe their implementation of a health coaching program designed to improve patients’ blood pressure by educating them about hypertension risks and therapies, fostering their self-management skills, and engaging and empowering them to pursue discussion and follow-up with their primary care provider.

The authors explain that their small cohort study shows how a community-based health-coaching program can become a helpful adjunct to a primary care practice’s goal of reducing cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events among its patients. But, they write, “While health coaching to improve patients’ self-management skills is an important component of an effective population health management strategy, such a program cannot succeed by itself. Health care systems and providers must work together to build a true culture of health in which all stakeholders are actively engaged in reducing costs and improving outcomes.”

Consultant is committed to helping build that culture of health by providing information about innovations in cardiometabolic risk reduction, in the print journal and special supplements, digitally at Consultant360.com, and in person at CRS. Share your strategies by sending a note to Editor@Consultant360.com or calling me directly at (800) 237-7285, ext. 4396. Or, share them with me in person at CRS in Dallas! Thanks for reading.

Michael Gerchufsky, ELS, CMPP
Managing Editor, Consultant