Cardiovascular care is overdue for a preventive reset

Nearly 6.7 million U.S. adults live with heart failure, which accounts for nearly 15% of all deaths each year—and more than $60 billion in annual costs.

And then there’s the issue of capacity. The demand for cardiovascular care continues to outpace the available workforce, with a projected shortage of more than 8,600 cardiologists by 2037. For physicians on the front lines – particularly in primary care – this gap creates an impossible tension: more patients at risk, fewer specialists to refer to, and too little time (and tools) to intervene early.

Today, most cardiac care is still reactive, triggered by symptoms, acute events, or late-stage disease. But prevention requires something different: earlier visibility into cardiac risk, objective physiologic data, and tools that help physicians identify problems before they escalate into emergencies. Patients are already generating unprecedented amounts of health data through wearables and connected devices, yet much of this information fails to become clinically actionable inside the exam room.

If we want to meaningfully reduce cardiovascular disease, control costs, and give physicians back time, we must rethink how early screening, prevention, and diagnostic support fit into everyday care. The future of preventive cardiology will not be built on a single function or siloed technology, but on integrated, end-to-end systems that help clinicians see risk sooner, act with confidence, and intervene before a patient ends up in the emergency room with heart failure.

RPM laid a solid foundation for next gen preventive tools

Remote monitoring made its first big splash more than six decades ago, when Alan Shepard took an EKG, thermometer, and a respirator sensor into space. That original use case and the ones that followed were all designed for a single purpose: to sound the alarm in the event of an emergency. Modern consumer tech is built with the same goal in mind. Watches tell individuals when their heart rate is too high, or when they start to show signs of illness. It is all reactionary data.

As a result, most RPM programs start after a diagnosis, hospitalization, or decompensation. They help reduce readmissions, but the data come too late to truly change outcomes. Clinicians are reacting to alerts, when their expertise might be better used in identifying and understanding patterns to help prevent catastrophic events in the first place.

Despite the drama of a heart attack, cardiovascular disease does not happen suddenly. What if we took this into account and instead of monitoring a patient after an acute incident, we harnessed the incredible tools and technological advances available today to identify risk and patterns long before a serious adverse event?

Data before the visit

If prevention is the goal, what if physicians could have the data before a visit begins?

Imagine the typical annual exam, but as the patient enters the waiting room, they receive an easy-to-use wearable device. As they fill out paperwork, the device collects cardiac function data that is automatically uploaded to their records. In the exam room, the physician begins the appointment by explaining to the patient what the data shows, and asking questions about lifestyle to put the data in context and identify whether further testing or treatment are needed.

In this scenario, the appointment is grounded in clear, accurate data. Instead of asking questions and relying on the patient’s memory or reading from months or years before, we get an instant snapshot that allows clinicians to walk into appointments informed – and armed with actionable insights. The visit is now about explanation and decision making, instead of digging for information that may or may not be reliable.

Where needed, the data can become even broader. A patient could receive and begin wearing the device days or weeks ahead of time and provide information on real-life factors, like sleep, stress, movement and recovery. All of this data gathering, when paired with software that can effectively analyze context (versus just patterns) instead of flooding the provider with too much information, leverages preventive monitoring for prevention rather than a trigger for late-stage response.

Where we go from here

I can almost hear the collective sigh of overworked physicians wondering how they are supposed to integrate one more thing into an appointment. But in this new model, work – especially administrative – is reduced. Automated collection and pattern-based analysis means fewer false alarms, fewer rushed visits, and fewer late-stage crises.

One of the biggest health risks facing patients in the U.S. is not unfixable. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The demand (and patient appetite) is there. The need to provide more support to cardiologists and physicians is there. And, the technology and innovation are there. What we do need is a mindset shift and a willingness to reject the status quo. If we can overcome those challenges, there are a lot of lives (and money) we can save.

Chris Darland is president and CEO of Peerbridge Health