China, "Bridging the Gap"

The Bridging the Gap (BRIG) project aims to improve the quality of care of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in China. It is a collaborative project between the World Heart Federation, the Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung & Blood Vessel Diseases-Beijing Anzhen Hospital, the Chinese Society of Cardiology and the China National Health Heart Programme.

Three-phase project covers all of mainland china

In phase one (March-July 2006), the project surveyed the quality of care of coronary heart disease patients in 64 hospitals in all 31 provinces of mainland China. It established a baseline for quality of care and identified problems in treatment of coronary heart disease at different levels of care and different regions.  

Phase two (July-December 2006) of the project identified the major barriers to implementing evidence-based clinical practice. It examined routine clinical care for coronary heart disease patients, including recommending lifestyle modifications and use of medication. These were compared to current guidelines of secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. 

Phase three (January 2007-December 2008) will seek solutions to close the gap between guidelines and practice in the care of coronary heart disease patients. These will cover different levels of hospital care and different regions of China.  Specific intervention strategies will be designed based on the problems and barriers identified in the first two phases of the project. These will include hospital and community-based interventions and will involve close communication and partnership with policy makers. The feasibility and impact of these strategies will be evaluated. As a final result, the project will provide evidence-based proposals for improvement of quality of care of CHD in China.