The American Heart Association (AHA) today announced the launch of Primary Care Perspectives, a new platform designed to help primary care professionals recognize heart failure risk earlier and support patients before the disease progresses. Supported by Bayer, the platform addresses the growing complexity of overlapping conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and insulin resistance, which together increase the risk of heart failure—often years before symptoms appear.
Nearly 7 million people in the United States currently live with heart failure, a number expected to rise. Primary care professionals are often the first and most frequent point of contact for at-risk patients, yet they face real-world barriers including rapidly evolving guidelines, limited time during visits, underused screening tools, and challenges coordinating care. The new platform aims to provide practical education and tools that reflect the realities of everyday primary care, helping clinicians recognize risk earlier and make informed decisions with confidence.
“Primary care professionals are managing increasing complexity across cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions, often while navigating limited time and fragmented guidance,” said Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA, chief medical officer for prevention at the AHA. “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 platform’s first initiative, Heart Failure in Primary Care, focuses on identifying and managing risk factors connected to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF). Even with established guidelines, many eligible patients hospitalized with heart failure do not receive guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) at discharge. Earlier identification and management in primary care may help improve long-term outcomes and reduce preventable disease progression.
“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,” said Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer. “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.”
Heart Failure in Primary Care is a three-year initiative intended for primary care professionals caring for patients across the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic continuum. Offerings will include a core curriculum, practical screening and risk-assessment tools, professional education and certification opportunities, resources to support shared decision-making with patients, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. The first educational webinar, Early Diagnosis and Initial Management of Heart Failure in Primary Care, is scheduled for June 29, 2026.
Additional resources from the AHA include the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure and the Heart Failure in Primary Care page on Professional Heart Daily.