American Heart Association Launches Major Initiative to Address Treatment Gaps in Common Heart Failure Types
The American Heart Association's new three-year IMPLEMENT-EF initiative aims to improve care for the 75% of heart failure patients with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction, addressing significant evidence gaps through multidisciplinary team approaches and real-world data analysis.
The American Heart Association has launched a new three-year initiative to improve in-hospital care for people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF), conditions that collectively account for up to 75% of all heart failure cases yet receive substantially limited clinical research and treatment evidence compared to other heart failure types. The IMPLEMENT-EF quality improvement initiative, supported by Bayer, will map gaps in the patient journey to identify unmet needs and define ideal care models for these prevalent but understudied conditions.
HFpEF occurs when an individual has heart failure but maintains an ejection fraction of 50% or higher, meaning the heart muscle contracts but the left ventricle does not relax properly during filling. HFmrEF involves a reduced ejection fraction between 41%-49%, compared to the normal range of 55%-70%. Treatment for both conditions requires earlier recognition and prompt initiation of scientific evidence-based therapies to improve health outcomes, yet current clinical understanding remains limited.
The initiative will engage a network of multidisciplinary care teams, including pharmacists, to ensure patients receive and take appropriate medications, raise provider awareness of best care practices, and improve adherence to evidence-based therapies using insights from Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure data. Forty hospitals have been recruited for the inaugural program, where teams will collaborate with other facilities and nationally recognized experts while accessing exclusive educational resources and sharing successful quality improvement models.
Mariell Jessup, M.D., FAHA, chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association, emphasized that improving care for these heart failure types demands more than clinical knowledge, requiring a coordinated, team-based approach. The initiative will include professional educational offerings such as a podcast series, eLearning module, and live presentations, guided by a Science Advisory Panel developing these materials. Findings will inform the Association's broader approach to patient care and help scale effective, replicable models nationwide.
Robert Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, vice president of U.S. medical affairs cardiovascular and renal at Bayer, stated the company's commitment to advancing science that transforms patient care in areas where evidence and treatment gaps persist. The initiative represents a significant step toward addressing the substantial clinical challenges presented by HFpEF and HFmrEF, which affect millions of Americans but have historically received less research attention than other cardiovascular conditions.