Organizations launch program to improve AF management in underserved areas
The American College of Cardiology, the Heart Rhythm Society and the Bristol Myers Squibb/Pfizer alliance announced they have launched a program to improve management of atrial fibrillation in underserved communities.
The TRANSFORM: Atrial Fibrillation Quality Initiative (TRANSFORM: AF) will give resources to providers and health care systems to improve adoption of guideline-directed medical therapies in patients from underserved communities, the organizations stated in a press release.
The TRANSFORM: AF program will provide a set of tools to manage AF by leveraging telehealth and remote monitoring tools, according to the release.
The ACC and HRS will conduct a baseline assessment supported by HealthReveal, a provider of artificial intelligence, to identify high-risk patient populations from underserved communities, and data from the assessment will be used to address gaps in care and to recommend patient care interventions, according to the release.
“Early and effective treatment is critical for appropriate management of AF, but some communities are disproportionately impacted by this disease because of low rates of early intervention,” James Januzzi, MD, TRANSFORM: AF co-chair, a member of the ACC board of trustees and director of the Dennis and Marilyn Barry Fellowship in Cardiology Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in the release. “Through TRANSFORM: AF, we’re giving clinicians tools to better understand AF risks to improve treatment decisions and monitoring for future complications in a way that meets vulnerable patients where they are.”
“TRANSFORM: AF provides us a unique opportunity to use telemedicine and artificial intelligence to better identify, risk stratify and treat the underserved vulnerable population, enabling collaborative and patient-centered care,” Cardiology Today Editorial Board Member Jagmeet Singh, MD, DPhil, TRANSFORM: AF co-chair, member of the HRS governance committee and founding director of the Resynchronization and Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in the release.
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