American Heart Association Acquires Cardiometabolic Center Alliance to Advance Integrated Care
TL;DR
The American Heart Association's acquisition of CMCA assets creates a competitive advantage by expanding integrated care capabilities and leveraging proven clinical protocols across more health systems.
The American Heart Association acquired CMCA's team-based care model, clinical protocols, and longitudinal patient data to establish integrated cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic health certification programs.
This collaboration between the American Heart Association and CMCA will improve patient outcomes and extend healthier lives through comprehensive, patient-centered cardiometabolic care.
A novel care model that treats diabetes and heart conditions together has shown significant improvements in patient outcomes and is now expanding nationwide.
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The American Heart Association has acquired program assets of the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance collaborative, strengthening efforts to establish integrated care that holistically manages cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic health. This strategic move combines the resources and expertise of both organizations to advance comprehensive risk reduction and improve quality of care for patients with cardiometabolic disease.
The missions of both organizations are closely aligned, focusing on supporting a patient-centered, team-based approach to care. Founded by Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, under the medical direction of Mikhail Kosiborod, M.D., the CMCA began as a bold initiative to reshape cardiometabolic care through the Saint Luke's Michael and Marlys Haverty Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence. This center designed and successfully implemented a novel approach to treating Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and related cardiovascular conditions together rather than addressing conditions or risk factors separately.
The unique care model gained recognition in top medical journals, and as healthcare systems across the country expressed interest in adopting the approach, the CMCA was launched. To date, CMCA members have observed statistically significant improvements in quality of care and clinical outcomes. Melissa Magwire, RN, MSN, CDCES, program director of the CMCA, noted the increasing demand to expand their collaborative team-based care model since the alliance's launch in 2020.
The established collaborative relationship between the Heart Association and CMCA will enhance the development of a Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Center of Excellence certification program. The CMCA membership includes a suite of clinical protocols, clinical materials, program support for 22 cardiometabolic centers, and a five-year longitudinal dataset of patient-level cardiometabolic data. The American Heart Association will lead program development, implementation, and clinical support for all existing CMCA members.
Mariell Jessup, M.D., FAHA, Chief Science & Medical Officer of the American Heart Association, described this as a rare opportunity to optimize synergy between the two organizations and combine efforts for greater impact. Initial data shows that under this care model, rates of optimal guideline-directed medical therapy substantially increased over the national average, ensuring patients with Type 2 diabetes receive care aimed at both optimizing diabetes management and providing comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction.
This integration represents a significant step toward transforming how healthcare systems approach complex, interconnected conditions that affect millions of patients worldwide. The combination of resources and expertise could accelerate the adoption of evidence-based, integrated care models across the healthcare landscape, potentially improving outcomes for patients dealing with cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic conditions simultaneously.
Curated from NewMediaWire
