This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:

To determine the effectiveness of service organisation interventions which are intended to improve secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease and which are delivered in primary care and community settings.

Ultimately the comparisons undertaken in the review will be determined by the studies identified by the review, but may include:

• Any organisational intervention aimed at improving adherence to secondary prevention recommendations versus normal care;

• Clinician‐centred organisational strategies aimed at improving clinician adherence to secondary prevention recommendations relating to medication and monitoring versus normal care (i.e. register‐based regular patient recall for risk factor monitoring and prophylaxis management);

• Specific clinician‐centred organisational strategies for improving clinician adherence to secondary prevention recommendations versus other strategies (i.e. register‐based regular patient recall for routine physician consultation versus regular recall to in‐practice secondary prevention clinics versus regular practice secondary prevention audit);

• One‐off patient‐centred behavioural interventions aimed at improving patient adherence to secondary prevention recommendations (i.e. patient education, motivation) versus normal care;

• Sustained (repeated contact) patient‐centred behavioural interventions aimed at improving patient adherence to secondary prevention recommendations versus normal care;

• Clinician‐centred organisational strategies versus patient‐centred interventions;

• Nurse‐delivery versus doctor‐delivery of comparable interventions;

• In‐practice delivery versus community setting delivery of comparable interventions;

• Delivery of comparable interventions to individual patients versus groups of patients.