Promoting increased awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of atrial fibrillation to address the high morbidity and mortality rates and to prevent avoidable hospitalizations associated with this disease.

Calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) enhance quality of care and patient safety by advancing the development of process and outcome measures for the management of atrial fibrillation by national developers, supporting pilots and demonstration projects to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions for patients with atrial fibrillation, and facilitating the adoption of evidence-based guidelines by the medical community to improve patient outcomes; (2) advance atrial fibrillation research and education by encouraging basic science research to determine the causes and optimal treatments, exploring development of a screening tool and protocols to determine the risk for the development of atrial fibrillation, and enhancing current surveillance and tracking systems to include atrial fibrillation; and (3) improve access to appropriate medical care for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation by encouraging education programs that promote collaboration among federal health agencies and that increase public and clinician awareness of atrial fibrillation.