The American Heart Association has launched Primary Care Perspectives, a new platform designed to help primary care professionals recognize heart failure risk earlier and support patients before the disease progresses. With nearly 7 million people in the United States living with heart failure and numbers expected to rise, the initiative addresses the growing complexity of overlapping conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance, which often increase the risk of heart failure years before symptoms appear.
Supported by Bayer, Primary Care Perspectives provides practical education, tools, and resources that reflect the realities of everyday primary care. The platform focuses on earlier identification and management of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic (CKM) risk. Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA, chief medical officer for prevention at the American Heart Association, stated, “Primary care professionals are managing increasing complexity across cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions, often while navigating limited time and fragmented guidance. Primary Care Perspectives was created to support clinicians with practical education and tools that can help them recognize risk earlier, make informed decisions with confidence and support patients before heart failure becomes more difficult to prevent or manage.”
The first initiative under the platform, Heart Failure in Primary Care, targets helping clinicians identify and manage risk factors connected to heart failure, particularly heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF). Primary care professionals are often the first point of contact for at-risk patients, yet they face barriers such as rapidly evolving guidance, limited time during visits, underused screening tools, and challenges in care coordination. Notably, many eligible patients hospitalized with heart failure do not receive guideline-directed medical therapy at discharge. Earlier identification in primary care could improve long-term outcomes and reduce preventable disease progression.
Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer, said, “Bayer is proud to support the American Heart Association’s Primary Care Perspectives initiative and its focus on providing practical education and resources that can help clinicians navigate the growing complexity of cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions. Heart failure continues to place a significant burden on patients, caregivers and health systems, and this initiative will help primary care professionals identify risk earlier and support timely care.”
The three-year initiative is designed for primary care professionals caring for patients across the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic continuum. It will launch with an educational webinar, "Early Diagnosis and Initial Management of Heart Failure in Primary Care," on June 29, 2026. Offerings will include a core curriculum, practical screening tools, professional education and certification, resources for shared decision-making, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. For more information, visit the Heart Failure in Primary Care page. The initiative aligns with the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure and the AHA's Risk-Based Primary Prevention of Heart Failure recommendations.
