The American Heart Association (AHA) has launched Primary Care Perspectives, a new platform designed to help primary care professionals recognize heart failure risk earlier and manage patients before the disease progresses. The initiative, supported by Bayer, addresses the growing complexity of overlapping conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance, which increase the risk of heart failure.
Nearly 7 million people in the United States live with heart failure, a number expected to rise. Primary care providers are often the first point of contact for at-risk patients, yet they face barriers such as limited time, evolving guidelines, and underused screening tools. The platform aims to provide practical education, tools, and resources 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 are managing increasing complexity across these conditions while navigating limited time and fragmented guidance. The platform was created to support clinicians with practical education and tools to recognize risk earlier and make informed decisions.
The platform’s first initiative, Heart Failure in Primary Care, focuses on 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). Many patients hospitalized with heart failure do not receive guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) at discharge, highlighting the need for earlier intervention in primary care.
Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer, noted that heart failure places a significant burden on patients, caregivers, and health systems. The initiative will help primary care professionals identify risk earlier and support timely care.
Heart Failure in Primary Care is a three-year initiative intended for primary care professionals caring for patients across the CKM continuum. It will launch with an educational webinar titled Early Diagnosis and Initial Management of Heart Failure in Primary Care on June 29, 2026. Offerings will include a core curriculum, screening tools, professional education opportunities, resources for shared decision-making, and peer-to-peer learning.
The AHA also references the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure as a key resource. The platform aims to reduce preventable disease progression and improve long-term outcomes through earlier risk identification and management in primary care.
