Join us on Wednesday, February 18, at 10:00 a.m. (Washington, DC time or EST) on the webinar "HEARTS Quality: A Policy Framework for Continuous Quality Improvement in Primary Health Care". PAHO and countries in the Region developed the HEARTS Quality Model in the Americas, which integrates global evidence and regional implementation lessons into a practical, actionable policy framework. Composed of eleven programmatic strategies and a continuous quality improvement methodology designed to accelerate and strengthen HEARTS implementation across integrated health service networks and primary health care settings.
Objectives of the webinar
- To present the HEARTS Quality Model, highlighting its structure, conceptual foundations, and contributions to quality improvement and the strengthening of primary health care in the Region.
- To facilitate the use of the HEARTS Quality Model as a public health action tool aimed at improving quality and accelerating HEARTS implementation across countries in the Americas.
How to participate
- DATE: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
- TIME: 10:00 a.m. (Washington, DC time or EST) [Check at the end of the page the time in other cities]
- LANGUAGES: Spanish and English, with simultaneous interpretation in those languages
- REGISTER: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ueqY2GlDSYyZgm2LlNSj5g#/registration
Agenda
Moderator: Dr. Pedro Orduñez. PAHO | HEARTS in the Americas
Welcome and introduction
- Webinar context and session objectives
- Relevance of the HEARTS Quality Model for regional implementation teams
Part 1. HEARTS Quality: The HEARTS Quality Model in the Americas
Speaker: Dr. Esteban Londoño. PAHO | HEARTS in the Americas
- Origin and purpose of the HEARTS Quality Model
- The eleven programmatic strategies as a policy framework
- Continuous quality improvement methodology for HEARTS implementation
- Why can this model accelerate and strengthen PHC outcomes?
Question and answer session
Part 2. Panel: HEARTS as a continuous quality improvement strategy in primary health care
Panelists: Dr. Reena Gupta – Resolve to Save Lives; Dr. Andrés Rosende – HEARTS in the Americas; Ms. Carolina Neira – Ministry of Health, Chile; Dr. Matías Villatoro – Ministry of Health, El Salvador
- Practical application of continuous quality improvement in PHC
- Lessons learned and recommendations for implementation teams
Question and answer session
Conclusions and closing
Dr. Pedro Orduñez. PAHO | HEARTS in the Americas
Context
HEARTS in the Americas, the largest-scale implementation of the global HEARTS initiative, has evolved into a comprehensive strategy for continuous quality improvement in primary health care services. Led by PAHO in collaboration with ministries of health across the Region, HEARTS promotes evidence-based clinical, managerial, and public policy interventions to improve access, coverage, and quality of care for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases.
Despite significant progress, multiple challenges persist, including fragmented care delivery, limited availability of validated blood pressure measurement devices, insufficient access to essential medicines, and still-weak quality assurance and quality improvement systems within primary health care.
In response to these challenges, PAHO and countries of the Region developed the HEARTS Quality Model in the Americas, recently published in the prestigious journal The Lancet Regional Health – Americas (HEARTS quality: a policy framework to strengthen hypertension and cardiovascular risk management in primary healthcare—insights from HEARTS in the Americas).
This model integrates global evidence and regional implementation lessons into a practical, actionable policy framework comprising eleven programmatic strategies and a continuous quality improvement methodology to accelerate and strengthen HEARTS implementation across integrated health service networks and primary health care settings.
Click on the image to open HEARTS in the Americas.
Time in other cities
- 7:00 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver.
- 9:00 a.m. - Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San Salvador, San José (Costa Rica), Tegucigalpa.
- 10:00 a.m. - Bogotá, Havana, Kingston, Lima, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Ottawa, Panama City, Quito, Washington D.C.
- 11:00 a.m. – Bridgetown, Caracas, Georgetown, La Paz, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Saint George's, Saint John's (Antigua).
- 12:00 p.m. - Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo, Santiago.
- 4:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid.
For other cities, check the local times in the following link.