Target Audience

Healthcare providers of all specialties may benefit from the information presented. 

Goals and Objectives

This program, HEARTS in America (HEARTS), is an initiative led by PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and adapted for the United States, integrates seamlessly into existing cardiovascular and hypertension prevention and treatment programs. This training, delivered by HEARTS SMEs from across the globe, will focus on the pillars of HEARTS, critical drivers of hypertension, clinical pathways for standardized treatments while discussing the impacts of hypertension on diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). HEARTS implementation will improve hypertension control among patient populations while reducing CVD risks and impact disparities.

Upon completion of this activity, the learner should be able to:

• Understand the overview of HEARTS in America and why now is the time for action
• Implement HEARTS Pillars including standardized pharmacologic treatment protocols and clinical pathways
• Identify critical drivers of hypertension control and discuss opportunities to reduce.
• Utilize hypertension control to improve diabetes and CKD while reducing disparities and improving health equity.
• Incorporate HEARTS synergies and alignments with national program initiatives

Course Information

CME Release Date: March 2, 2023
Valid for credit through: March 1, 2024
Course type: Video Course
Estimated time of completion: 5 hours

Credits Available

Southern Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Southern Medical Association designates this Internet Activity Enduring Material for a maximum of 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAPA: AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society. 

AANPCP: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Healthcare Professionals: For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.  All healthcare professionals who are not MDs or DOs will receive a certificate of participation.

Instructions for Participation and Credit

This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated; learners should claim only those credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period noted, following these steps:

• Read the goals and objectives, accreditation information, and author disclosures.
• Login in below to study the educational content and references.
• Complete the attestation, post-test (if applicable), and evaluation.

Upon successful completion of these components, your certificate will be processed and emailed from customerservice@sma.org within approximately 1 hour. Credits will be archived for 6 years; at any point within this time period you may login to your account to print a duplicate copy of your certificate.

Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest

Southern Medical Association (SMA) requires instructors, planners, managers, and all other individuals who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose conflicts of interest (COI) with ineligible entities within the last 24 months of the development of this activity. All identified COIs are thoroughly vetted and mitigated prior to the release of the activity. SMA is committed to providing its learners with high quality activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The following individuals have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Faculty

Donald DiPette MD, FACP, FAHA is a Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and previously held positions as Special Assistant to the Provost for Health Affairs, Vice President for Medical Affairs, and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of South Carolina. He was Interim Senior Executive Dean, Chairman of Medicine, and Professor of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center College of Medicine. Dr. DiPette has also served as the Director of Hypertension Research Program at Allegheny General Hospital. He earned his bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University and his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University. He is board certified in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology with a specialist certification in hypertension. His major areas of research include the pharmacologic treatment of hypertension and the role of novel neuropeptides in the pathophysiology of hypertension. Dr. DiPette is actively involved in the Global HEARTS Initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization and the HEARTS in the Americas Program of the Pan American Health Organization. He currently serves as the Envoy for Latin American and the Caribbean to the World Hypertension League and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension. He was the awardee of the World Hypertension League 2022 Detlev Ganten Excellence in Hypertension Award and Global Health Implementation.

Pedro Ordunez, MD obtained his medical degree in Cuba in 1990. In 1993 he received the Grand Prize Annual Award for Health Research in Cuba for his work in cardiovascular disease in Cuba. Dr. Ordunez is board-certified in Internal Medicine and in Public Health Organization and Management. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Public Health at the School of Public Health of Havana; Cuba and he completed his post-doctoral fellowship in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Ordunez has been a professor of internal medicine and public health, clinician, researcher, educator, and medical administrator with more than 30 years of practice. Dr. Ordunez was the director of the University Hospital Gustavo Aldereguia Lima (HGAL) in Cienfuegos for 13 years. HGAL was recognized as the most prominent Cuban Hospital during the 2000’s and it was selected as the World Health Organization Collaborating Center. In 2009, Dr. Ordunez joined the Pan American Health Organization. During his tenure, he has led hypertension, cardiovascular health, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) areas. Currently, Dr. Ordunez is the CVD lead for the PAHO region implementing the HEARTS Initiative in the Americas. Dr Ordunez has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals with relevant publications in the field of CVD, hypertension, and CKD. For his lifelong contributions to the field of Hypertension, Dr. Ordunez was awarded the WHL 2017 Norman Campbell Excellence Award in Population Hypertension Prevention and Control

Jeffrey W. Brettler, MD is a general interest that has practiced for more than 20 years with the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center. He has served as the Chief of Internal Medicine, Population Care Physician Lead, and currently serves as the Hypertension Lead for Southern California Kaiser Permanente. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Hypertension and Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems Sciences at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. Dr. Brettler earned his bachelor’s in Chemistry and Molecular Biology from University of California, Berkley before attending University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He is currently a consultant with Pan American Health Organization assisting with implementation of comprehensive hypertension programs in Latin American and the Caribbean.

Andres Rosende, MD is a physician specializing in cardiology. He obtained a Master´s degree in clinical research and epidemiology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2018, and after several years of clinical practice, Andres began to work in the Ministry of Health of Argentina as the Coordinator of the National Program for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, leading the implementation of the HEARTS initiative in the country. Since 2021, he’s been working as International PAHO Consultant for HEARTS in the Americas Initiative, specifically, overseeing the Medication and Standardized Treatment Protocols Pillar.

Kenneth Connell, MBBS DM, PhD, FACP, FACC is a Consultant Internist/ Hypertension Specialist. He currently is the Deputy Dean of Internationalization and Recruitment of Medical Sciences at Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. He also chairs the Cave Hill Campus’ Health & Wellness Committee. As a Consultant Physician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, he manages both general internal medicine inpatient care and the Resistant Hypertension clinic. He is the immediate past, and inaugural Governor of the American College of Physicians Caribbean Chapter. For his outstanding public service, he received the Principal’s Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2019.He has been published in numerous peer review journals on hypertension and the PAHO - WHO HEARTS program and is a guideline writer for the WHO 2021 Guideline for the Pharmacological Management of Hypertension in Adults. His professional recognitions include: Fellowship of the American College of Physicians (ACP), Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians UK (FRCP), and Fellowship of the American College of Cardiology (FACC).

David Flood, MD, MSC is a physician and health services researcher dedicated to improving the burden of cardiometabolic disease (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia in resource-limited settings in the U.S. and globally. He is board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics. Dr. Flood is a hospitalist in inpatient services and Assistant Professor within the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of Michigan. He obtained his bachelor’s in business administration with high distinction from the University of Michigan, MCs in International Health Policy from London School of Economics and Political Science, before obtaining his Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School. He is currently completing his Research Fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the Institute for Health Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan. Dr. Flood successfully published Integrating Hypertension and Diabetes Management in Primary Health Care Settings: HEARTS as a Tool with Dr. DiPette and Dr. Rosende in July 2022.

Daniel T. Lackland, DrPH, FACE, FAHA is Professor of Epidemiology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is a Fellow in the American College of Epidemiology, American Society of Hypertension, and American Heart Association. He directs the Division of Translational Neuroscience and Population Studies, and the Master of Science in Clinical Research Program. He is the principal investigator for the Black Pooling Project assessing the disparities in cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.  Dr. Lackland was appointed to Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 8), and the work group for the NHLBI Clinical Guidelines for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction (Global Risk Assessment). He also served on the Evidence Rating Committee of the ACC/AHA Clinical Practice Guidelines (Hypertension). He was appointed the chair of the Executive Committee and Steering Committee for NHLBI Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study.  His research interest involves the population risk assessment of cardiovascular disease, stroke and hypertension. His research spans all stages of life from the fetal and early life origins of high blood pressure to hypertension awareness at sporting events.  He is immediate Past-President of the World Hypertension League and former Deputy Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.  

Ben Broome, MD grew up in Savannah, Georgia. After high school he attended the University of Georgia where he was a member of the honors program and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Nutrition Science. He received a medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Broome then completed his Internal Medicine training with Baptist Health Systems in Birmingham prior to attending Vanderbilt University for his Nephrology fellowship. Dr. Broome is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, a member of the American Society of Nephrology and the Renal Physicians Association.