The American Heart Association (AHA) announced the launch of Primary Care Perspectives, a new platform designed to help primary care professionals recognize heart failure risk earlier. Supported by Bayer, 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. Nearly 7 million people in the United States live with heart failure, and that number is expected to rise.
The platform provides practical education, tools, and resources tailored to the realities of primary care, aiming to support earlier identification and management of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic (CKM) risk. According to Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA, chief medical officer for prevention at the AHA, primary care professionals face challenges such as limited time, fragmented guidance, and rapidly evolving standards. "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," Sanchez said.
The first initiative under the platform, Heart Failure in Primary Care, focuses on identifying and managing 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, but real-world barriers—such as underused screening tools, limited visit time, and challenges coordinating care—can delay diagnosis and treatment. Even with established guidelines, many eligible patients hospitalized with heart failure do not receive guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) at discharge.
Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer, emphasized the initiative's importance: "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 intended for primary care professionals caring for patients across the CKM continuum, especially those with early risk factors.
Offerings will include a core curriculum, practical screening tools, professional education and 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. This case-based webinar aims to support primary care teams in recognizing and managing heart failure earlier.
The broader impact of this initiative lies in its potential to shift the paradigm from reactive to proactive care. By equipping primary care providers with tools to identify risk earlier, the platform could reduce preventable disease progression and improve long-term outcomes. For health systems, earlier intervention may lower the burden of advanced heart failure, which is costly and resource-intensive. For patients, it means a better chance of avoiding severe complications. The initiative aligns with the AHA's commitment to advancing health equity and transforming lives, as detailed in resources like the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure and the Risk-Based Primary Prevention of Heart Failure.
