One In Five Fewer Heart Attacks: Impact, Savings, And Sustainability In San Diego County Collaborative

Before 2011 rates of hospitalization for heart attacks were about the same in San Diego County as they were in the rest of California. In 2011 a multistakeholder population health collaborative consisting of partners at the federal, state, and local levels launched Be There San Diego. The collaborative's goal was to reduce cardiovascular events through the spread of best practices aimed at improving control of hypertension, lipid levels, and blood sugar and through patient and medical community activation. Using hospital discharge data for the period 2007-16, we compared acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalization rates in San Diego County and the rest of the state before and after the demonstration project started. AMI hospitalization rates decreased by 22 percent in San Diego County versus 8 percent in the rest of the state, with an estimated 3,826 AMI hospitalizations avoided and $86 million in savings in San Diego. Results show that a science-based health collaborative can improve outcomes while lowering costs, and efforts are under way to ensure the collaborative's sustainability.