Press releases

Released May 10, 2002
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Women's Heart Advantage Recognized for Raising Awareness, Educating Consumers

For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio

The Foundation for Accountability (FACCT) presented its 2002 Ellwood Health Care Industry Award to the Women's Heart Advantage initiative in recognition of the program's outstanding efforts to improve health care for consumers. FACCT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Americans make better health care decisions. The award honors the work of Paul M. Ellwood Jr., M.D., a national leader in efforts to make the health system accountable for delivering high-quality care to consumers.

The Women's Heart Advantage Initiative is an innovative, evidence-based consumer outreach program working to reduce morbidity and mortality of heart disease—the leading cause of death for women. By forging an active partnership between women and their health care providers the program aims to increase awareness about the prevalence and extent of coronary heart disease, improve outcomes through the identification and management of risk factors and early warning signs and respond to gender-specific symptoms of heart attacks.

"Yale-New Haven Hospital is proud to be part of Women's Heart Advantage, a community-based initiative working to reduce the morbidity and mortality of heart disease, the leading cause of death for women," said Kyle Kramer, executive director of the Yale-New Haven Heart Center. "Women's Heart Advantage actively links our physicians, nurses and other providers directly with women in our community increase their awareness of the disease, encourage them to recognize gender-specific symptoms and to seek timely and appropriate action, thereby improving outcomes for the long term."

"Women's Heart Advantage empowers women to ask critical questions, apply evidence-based knowledge to their own care, engage in risk reduction strategies, and actively seek appropriate care," added Barry Zaret, M.D., medical director of the heart center.

The program was selected for this year's award because it demonstrates all the elements of a successful transformation program by providing exceptional leadership and giving consumers the tools to help shape the system themselves, according to David Lansky, Ph.D., president of FACCT.

"The program offers better health options, gives health care consumers effective decision-making tools, assists them in investigating variations in care, and motivates them to work with their providers, fostering a sense of what the system should offer," Lansky said.

Women's Heart Advantage was introduced and developed in 2001 by Yale-New Haven Hospital and VHA, Inc., a cooperative of more than 2,000 hospitals, with support from local organizational leaders such as New Haven Savings Bank, SNET, Eli Lilly and Bayer. This year the program was expanded to 14 other VHA hospitals nationwide, all of which draw from the program foundation and principles developed and established by Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT, is a 944-bed not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale University School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven was founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the United States in 1826, and today the hospital complex includes Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, with a combined medical staff of about 2,400 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties.

Return to News Release Index

Home page URL: http://www.ynhh.org

All information is intended for your general knowledge and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen.