The American Heart Association (AHA) announced the launch of Primary Care Perspectives, a platform designed to help primary care professionals identify and manage cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic (CKM) risk factors earlier, potentially preventing progression to heart failure. Nearly 7 million people in the U.S. have heart failure, a number expected to rise as conditions like cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance often overlap, increasing heart failure risk years before symptoms appear.
Supported by Bayer, the platform provides practical education, tools, and resources tailored to the realities of primary care. The first initiative, Heart Failure in Primary Care, focuses on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF). Primary care professionals are often the first point of contact for at-risk patients, but face barriers such as rapidly evolving guidelines, limited time, underused screening tools, and care coordination challenges.
Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA, AHA’s chief medical officer for prevention, emphasized that Primary Care Perspectives was created to support clinicians with practical tools to recognize risk earlier and manage patients before heart failure becomes more difficult to prevent. Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer, noted that heart failure burdens patients, caregivers, and health systems, and this initiative will help identify risk earlier and support timely care.
The three-year initiative includes a core curriculum, screening tools, professional education, certification opportunities, resources for shared decision-making, and peer-to-peer learning. The first educational webinar, Early Diagnosis and Initial Management of Heart Failure in Primary Care, will be held on June 29, 2026. The AHA also points to the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure and other resources to support clinicians.
This initiative addresses the critical need for earlier intervention in primary care, where many eligible patients hospitalized with heart failure do not receive guideline-directed medical therapy at discharge. By improving earlier identification and management, Primary Care Perspectives aims to reduce preventable disease progression and improve long-term outcomes.
