NIH research grant awarded to improve HF detection

The NIH has awarded Sutter Health, IBM Research and Geisinger Health System a $2 million joint research grant to improve the detection of HF.

The purpose of the joint project is to make better use of electronic health records (EHR) and advanced analytics, as well as to develop best practices for health systems to incorporate big data analytics into primary care services. Improved data analysis would allow physicians to more closely monitor patients at high risk HF and help to promote necessary lifestyle changes and potentially beneficial clinical interventions.

The grant recipients will also use the NIH funding to further assess predictors of HF, and will test potential predictive methods in clinical practice during the coming years.

“Heart failure will remain among our nation’s most deadly and costly diseases unless we discover new methods to detect the illness much earlier,” principal investigator Walter Stewart, PhD, MPH, chief research and development officer for Sutter Health, said in a press release. “Sophisticated analysis of EHR data could reveal the unique presentation of these symptoms at earlier stages and allow doctors and patients to work together sooner to do something about it. Through this research, we could transform how heart failure is managed in the future.”

The three groups have collaborated on joint research since 2009, and have previously published material on prediction modeling and automatic identification of diagnostic criteria for HF through EHRs.

“Our earlier research showed that signs and symptoms of heart failure in patients are often documented years before a diagnosis, and that the pattern of documentation can offer clinically useful signals for early detection of this deadly disease,” cardiologist and Geisinger research team member Steve Steinhubl, MD, said in the release. “Now we have the technology to enable earlier diagnosis and intervention of serious conditions like heart failure, leading to better outcomes for patients.”