Gulati: Preventive cardiology ‘should be at the forefront’ of care
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- Preventive cardiology should be at the forefront of health care.
- The American Society of Preventive Cardiology seeks to “find partners in prevention.”
ARLINGTON, Texas — Prevention of CVD must be a top priority in health care, and professional societies must work together to improve the health of everyone before the onset of disease, according to a speaker.
The subspeciality of preventive cardiology has become “more important than ever,” Martha Gulati, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center, director of preventive cardiology at Cedars-Sinai and president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, said during opening remarks at the ASPC Congress on CVD Prevention. The COVID-19 pandemic in particular highlighted the role CV risk factors play in disease; however, CVD mortality and CV risk factor burden have both steadily increased in the United States, Gulati said.
Source: Adobe Stock.
“We have been talking about prevention for a long time, but in the hierarchy of cardiology, [prevention is] still considered somewhat lower, even though it should be our top priority,” Gulati said. “Congress has passed bills that are older than many of us focusing on CVD prevention, and yet we still have not made it a priority in health care. We are working on that. That is the ASPC’s goal.”
Membership in the ASPC has grown significantly in just the past 6 years, Gulati said, from approximately 400 members before the pandemic to more than 1,500 members currently. That growth, Gulati said, stems from an increasing desire from providers to become more involved in preventive care and a new focus overall on prevention in health care.
The ASPC is seeking new “partners in prevention,” including international partners, to collaborate on educational initiatives, professional meetings and clinical guidance.
“Prevention is not just going to sit in the area of prevention,” Gulati said. “We are going to work with other partners and build bridges where prevention is important.”
ASPC continues to partner with other professional societies, including the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, to publish clinical practice statements to guide prevention in the U.S. But much more work is needed as preventive care incorporates social determinants of health with a focus on health equity, Gulati said.
“At this meeting, we have an opportunity to discuss our steps forward,” Gulati said. “How do we want to change our future? We need to discuss equity in CV care, particularly prevention. Who gets preventive care and who does not? Our entire health care system is switching to value-based care. As we are measuring quality in our institutions, prevention should be at the forefront. We should be guiding and leading these initiatives.”
Collapse
Gulati M. President’s address. Presented at: American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention; July 21-23, 2023; Arlington, Texas.
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts