American Heart Association Acquires Cardiometabolic Center Alliance to Advance Integrated Care Model
The American Heart Association's acquisition of the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance program assets represents a significant advancement in integrated care for cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic conditions, potentially transforming treatment approaches for millions of patients.
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 resources from both organizations to improve comprehensive risk reduction and enhance patient outcomes through a patient-centered, team-based approach to cardiometabolic disease management.
The CMCA, founded by Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, under the medical direction of Mikhail Kosiborod, M.D., began as an initiative to reshape cardiometabolic care. The program originated through the Saint Luke's Michael and Marlys Haverty Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence, which designed and implemented a novel approach to treating Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and related cardiovascular conditions collectively rather than addressing individual conditions separately. This team-based, comprehensive care model tailored to each patient has gained recognition in top medical journals and attracted interest from healthcare systems nationwide.
Melissa Magwire, RN, MSN, CDCES, program director of the CMCA, noted the growing demand for expanding the collaborative team-based care model since the alliance's launch in 2020. "Our members have contributed substantially to advancing our mission of improving the lives of those living with cardiometabolic disease," Magwire stated. "By working with the American Heart Association, we now have the opportunity to expand and scale these efforts, enabling us to help even more people live longer, healthier lives."
The established collaborative relationship between the Heart Association and CMCA will be enhanced through this acquisition. CMCA's strengths and expertise will support the Heart Association's development of a Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Center of Excellence certification program. The CMCA membership includes 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, emphasized the significance of this integration. "The American Heart Association is proud to carry the torch forward toward integrated, patient-centered care for people with cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions," Jessup said. "This is a rare opportunity to optimize the synergy between the two organizations and combine efforts and resources for greater impact." CMCA leadership will transition to committee and staff roles at the American Heart Association, ensuring continuity and building upon the successful care model that has demonstrated statistically significant improvements in quality of care and clinical outcomes across member sites.