Mission and Scope of Practice _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Background The South Asian Heart Center at El Camino Hospital is the first non-profit preventative response to the rapid, malignant, and severe epidemic of heart disease and diabetes among South Asians (those who originate from the Indian sub-continent countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal). They have a four-fold increased risk for these chronic diseases compared to other populations. They bear a disproportionate burden of the world’s heart disease–60% of the disease in 17% of the global population. In 2009, South Asians accounted for 19% of the acute myocardial infarctions (MI) in the El Camino Hospital ER (while comprising of only 5% of the hospital district’s population). Seemingly healthy, typically vegetarian, non-smoking, and non-obese South Asian men and women develop CAD at much younger ages – 50% of heart attacks occur before the age of 55. Studies attribute this increased risk to an excess of traditional risk factors at younger ages, a lack of protective lifestyle factors, and a genetic pre-disposition as evidenced by emerging markers. Mission The mission of the South Asian Heart Center is to reduce the high incidence of coronary artery disease in South Asians through a comprehensive, culturally appropriate program that raises awareness through education, evaluates risk factors for heart disease with advanced screening, and facilitates lifestyle changes with supportive heart health coaching. The Center envisions preventing heart disease when possible, controlling it when necessary, and collaborating with physicians to treat it when appropriate. It aims to be a global center of excellence for heart-disease education, assessment, and lifestyle management. Scope and Guiding Principles South Asians who sign up for the Center’s screening program are referred to as participants and not patients – to distinguish them from cardiovascular disease patients, as well as to direct them to pursue regular and routine care with their physicians and healthcare providers. As a primordial, primary, and secondary prevention program, the Center is an advocate for evidencebased, minimally invasive, low cost, and comprehensive, leading edge screening methods. The Center does not medically manage patients, but serves as a resource for physicians and their patients to obtain a more extensive assessment of their risk-factors, and lifestyle counseling on exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction. The Center emphasizes this 3-way collaboration between the participant, the participants’ physician (for medical and routine care), and the Center’s staff (for lifestyle and heart-health coaching) to instigate a major change in the course of this epidemic. The Center does not prescribe medication, rather refers all pharmacological management and other routine testing back to the participant’s primary care or specialist healthcare providers. The Center sends the risk and recommendation reports to the participant’s physicians, and encourages the participants to follow-up with the physicians after their screening at the Center. The Center is independent from any physician group regardless of their hospital affiliation and will not refer participants to any specific physician for follow-up diagnostic testing or other interventions. Participants make their own independent physician selections. The Center has established three advisory councils: Program Executive, that oversees the operational aspects of the Center; Physician Advisory, that provides direction for issues relating to research, patient assessment, and program evaluation; and Community Advisory, that provides guidance for on-going program development, positioning, strategy, and funding. South Asian Heart Center, El Camino Hospital 2500 Grant Road, WIL206, Mountain View, CA 94040
Mission and Scope of Practice www.southasianheartcenter.org
Status: Non-profit, 501(c) 3 Tax-ID: 94-2823235 Tel: 650.940.7242