• In 2016, heart disease was the leading cause of death in New Mexico (20% of all deaths). Males had higher death rates compared to females at 183.4 and 110.3 per 100,000 respectively.
• Heart disease mortality varies by race and ethnicity. From 2014-2016, African Americans and Whites had the highest rates among all racial/ethnic groups at 187.5 and 149.7 per 100,000 respectively.  The Asian/Pacific Islander group, with a rate of 84.4 per 100,000, had the lowest heart disease death rate. For 2014-2016, heart disease death rates were highest and similar in Mixed Urban/Rural and Rural counties, and lowest in Metro and Small Metro counties. The heart disease death rate for Small Metro counties was significantly lower than all other Urban/Rural categories.
• Stroke mortality rates were significantly higher for older age groups. There were no significant differences between racial/ethnic groups for stroke mortality. Within each racial/ethnic group, there were no differences between the male and female rates. 
• NMDOH collaborated to target interventions within the southeast region of the state. Interventions included air quality monitors, partnerships with higher education entities, and increased systems of care involvement from targeted hospitals.
• The Epidemiology and Response Division's (ERD) Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau (EHEB) and Emergency Medical Systems Bureau (EMSB) continue to partner with the Public Health Division’s Chronic Disease Bureau (CDB) to address this indicator.

• NMDOH
• New Mexico Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau 
• City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo Air Quality Division
• Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Health Status Workgroup
• Acute care hospitals and primary health care systems in New Mexico
• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies
• American Heart Association
• American College of Cardiology
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Tribal Lands)

EHEB, EMBS, and CDB have interventions in place to address cardiovascular disease (CVD). The workgroup developed a logic model to map out how NMDOH can collectively impact CVD mortality utilizing evidence-based practices. Examples of the evidence-based practices include: 

• Team-based care to improve blood pressure control.
• Reducing out-of-pocket costs for CVD prevention services for patients with high blood pressure.
• Behavior change among older CVD high risk populations during poor air quality days.
• Increasing electronic health record adoption and the use of health information technology to improve performance for hypertension control in health systems.
• Installing air filters in homes.
• Closing windows and using air conditioning (although using air conditioning can contribute to increased demand on electricity, which can produce higher particulate matter [PM] emissions from coal plants, and may lead to higher population-wide PM exposures for population impacted by power plants).

• Use a Cardiovascular Disease Community Risk Profile to target interventions in areas of the state most at risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Use hospitalization data to improve clinical care. 
• Support use of PM2.5 (fine particles in the ambient air) exposure-reduction strategies during poor air quality days.
• Use health system assessment data to provide technical assistance to health systems on effectively reporting in Electronic Health Records (EHR)  and using EHR data to improve performance.
• Promote team-based care models for hypertension control.

In FY18, the New Mexico Department of Health Epidemiology and Response Division is working collaboratively with several internal and external stakeholders to lessen the severity of deaths from cardiovascular disease in New Mexico.