Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
November 10, 2025

VA Program Cuts Veterans' Bad Cholesterol by 34% with Health Coaches

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Original Source

TLDR

  • The VALOR-QI program gives veterans a health advantage by reducing bad cholesterol levels below 70 mg/dL in 34% of participants, lowering cardiovascular risk.
  • The VA's quality improvement program uses health coaches, multidisciplinary teams, and improved medication practices to systematically reduce LDL cholesterol levels through structured interventions.
  • This program improves veterans' heart health and extends healthier lives while reducing healthcare costs, creating better outcomes for those who served our country.
  • A VA program using health coaches helped over a third of veterans achieve optimal cholesterol levels, with surprising success even among those 75 and older.

Impact - Why it Matters

This research demonstrates that systematic quality improvement programs can significantly enhance cardiovascular health outcomes for veterans, a population disproportionately affected by heart disease. The findings are particularly crucial because veterans face unique health challenges and often struggle with medication adherence and access to consistent care. The program's success with older veterans (75+) is especially significant since this age group has been underrepresented in previous cholesterol medication trials. As heart disease remains the leading cause of death among veterans, these results could lead to widespread implementation of similar programs across the VA healthcare system, potentially reducing heart attacks, strokes, and healthcare costs while extending healthier lives for those who served our country.

Summary

A groundbreaking quality improvement program has demonstrated remarkable success in helping military veterans achieve better cholesterol management, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025. The Veterans Affairs Lipid Optimization Reimagined Quality Improvement (VALOR-QI) program, a collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Heart Association, showed that after 24 months, 34% of veterans with heart and blood vessel disease and high cholesterol achieved improved LDL cholesterol levels below 70 mg/dL. The program, which involved health care coaches, multidisciplinary teams, and improved medication prescribing practices, addressed key barriers including poor medication adherence, gaps in health education, and staffing shortages at VA facilities.

The study analyzed data from 83,232 veterans with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who had LDL cholesterol of 70 mg/dL or higher at baseline. The results were particularly striking for older veterans, with 36% of those ages 75 and older achieving the cholesterol goal. Overall, participants saw a 15.9 mg/dL reduction in LDL cholesterol, with the greatest improvements among those who initially had the highest levels. The program also increased cholesterol-lowering medication prescriptions from 78% to 88% and improved patient adherence from 65% to 77%. These benefits were consistent across both men and women, demonstrating the program's broad effectiveness.

Dr. Luc Djousse, the study author from the Boston VA Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, emphasized that heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death among veterans, with elevated LDL cholesterol being a major risk factor. The VALOR-QI program represents the first large-scale quality improvement initiative specifically designed for former military personnel with cardiovascular disease. With nearly 160,000 veterans engaged since its 2022 launch and support from Novartis, the program's simple, inexpensive approaches show promise for broader adoption throughout the VA system and potentially non-VA healthcare systems, potentially transforming cardiovascular care for veterans nationwide.

Source Statement

This curated news summary relied on content disributed by NewMediaWire. Read the original source here, VA Program Cuts Veterans' Bad Cholesterol by 34% with Health Coaches

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