• To provide hospitals and health systems with a suite of marketing tools that work to position and differentiate a hospital as a regional leader in gender specific heart care and education.
• To ensure that HeartCaring hospitals and physician practices recognize that not only are men and women different, but their heart healthcare needs can be very different as well.
• To certify participating hospitals and physicians practices throughout the country as HeartCaring Hospitals and HeartCaring Primary Care, Family Physicians and OB/GYN's who subscribe to a set of standards acknowledging and practicing a gender based approach to heart disease.

To support the implementation of regional HeartCaring certification, participating hospitals and health systems will be provided with assistance from Spirit of Women and educational support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in training, coordination and logistics. Spirit of Women will also coordinate national public relation efforts.


HeartCaring Program Expectations

• Each HeartCaring hospital must appoint one representative to attend the national training meeting on April 1-3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.
• A HeartCaring Administrator and Spirit of Women Coordinator will be responsible for facilitating HeartCaring continuing education to include hospital staff, clinicians, physicians, and key administrators.
• Involve 5 physician practices in local HeartCaring initiative.
• Provide Spirit of Women with physician office names and contact information for national Web site.
• Provide Spirit of Women with names and contact information for key hospital based services to be listed as access points on the national database.