The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Heartbeat Health, the first telemedicine and virtual care platform built by cardiologists for cardiologists, are joining forces to revolutionize cardiology with breakthrough virtual care. The partnership aims to ensure that cardiology practices around the world can incorporate clinical data into virtual patient communications to make real-time, informed clinical care decisions.
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In response to COVID-19, U.S. clinical practices rapidly adopted telehealth as a primary way of providing outpatient care, dramatically reducing or eliminating office presence. Cardiology is different than other care practices in that it requires frequent in-person evaluations and testing; not every specialty or disease process is like this. While telehealth in its simplest form is an exchange between patients and clinicians using audiovisual means; however, true virtual care should include diagnostics, management plans, and therapeutics—all aspects of clinical management without the requirement of physical care, says a press release.
“To truly transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health, we must incorporate data, remote patient monitoring and outcome tracking in an easy to use format both the patient and the physician can use to inform shared decision-making,” said John Rumsfeld, MD, PhD, FACC, ACC Chief Science and Quality Officer and Chief Innovation Officer. “Wearable health monitoring devices have evolved rapidly over the last five to 10 years and are now widely available; COVID-19 is a catalyst to push remote patient monitoring into the virtual care workflow.”
“The world is quickly moving away from how medicine was practiced 30 years ago. As we integrate technology and virtual care in every aspect of our patient’s heart health, we must also protect the integrity of cardiac care,” added Jeff Wessler, MD, Cardiologist, CEO, and Founder of Heartbeat Health. “The ACC guides best practices and has taken a forward-looking interest in digital transformation. There could not be a more appropriate group to set guidelines and help bring our innovative solution into the hands of those practicing cardiology across the country today.”
Heartbeat Health offers a virtual cardiovascular management solution where the smartphone is at the core. By combining health risk assessment and device data with a robust telehealth platform, Heartbeat Health more completely connects patients to their clinicians. The results: a tailored treatment plan for patients across all stages of heart and vascular disease and sites of service including the hospital, skilled nursing, cardiac rehabilitation and the home.
Using this platform, ACC and Heartbeat Health are collaborating to deliver a mobile-first, evidence-based platform to all ACC members, which uses patient devices and wearables for seamless patient and provider co-engagement.
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Through the Heartbeat Health platform, wireless monitoring devices can stream key metrics in real-time to cloud-based artificial intelligence engines that flag potential health risks, like blood pressure changes or volume status in heart failure, so clinicians can intervene with patients via HIPAA-compliant two-way video before conditions exacerbate. The ACC and Heartbeat collaboration is focused exclusively on cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. Complex disease management, like heart disease, requires this real-time data to effectively treat and manage virtually.
“Cardiologists in solo, group, and system practices will be leaders in making health care far more convenient, cost-effective, and outcomes-driven,” Wessler said. “We’re thrilled to be working with the College, with their 71-year history of continuously transforming the management of cardiovascular disease, to set a new standard for telehealth and specialized virtual care.”
