American Heart Association launches preventive health initiative for CKM syndrome

Five regions in the U.S. have been selected to implement a new preventive health initiative to improve care for people with a cluster of chronic conditions known as cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome. Through the initiative the American Heart Association, devoted to changing the future to a world of healthier lives for all, aims to increase awareness and screening for CKM syndrome and facilitate collaboration among health care professionals.

CKM syndrome is a clinical term that describes the combined health effects of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, which puts people at high risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults has at least three components of CKM syndrome, which include high blood pressure, high triglycerides, abnormal blood sugar level, impaired kidney function and excess body weight.

The geographic regions include:

• Atlanta metro
• Baton Rouge, La., metro
• San Diego metro
• Washington, D.C., and Maryland
• Ohio, with the Cincinnati metro area, which encompasses parts of Kentucky

These areas were selected based on disease prevalence, health system characteristics and community characteristics.

People often have risk factors like high blood pressure, abnormal blood sugar and low kidney function at the same time. There's a need to move beyond individual specialists to collaborative care models that support more holistic patient care. It's important for health care providers and organizations to think about these conditions collectively, because that's how patients experience them."

Chiadi Ndumele, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.S., FAHA, an associate professor of medicine and director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD

Ndumele is chair of the initiative's science advisory group.

The American Heart Association's Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Health Initiative, supported by founding sponsors Novo Nordisk and Boehringer Ingelheim, will eventually be established in 15 geographic regions across the nation. Initially, it will be implemented at 150 health care sites within those regions, impacting the care of more than a quarter-million patients with CKM syndrome. DaVita is the newest sponsor of the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Health Initiative and distributes the Association's evidence-based CKM educational resources nationwide.

 The initiative puts into practice a clinical framework for patient care described in the Association's 2023 presidential advisory, which first defined CKM syndrome. It includes:

• establishing and following processes for consistently tracking health factors that relate to CKM health,
• ensuring evidence-based therapies are provided for people with CKM syndrome,
• making connections with community resources for people with health-related social needs (like transportation or help paying for prescriptions), and
• facilitating collaboration among specialists and other health care professionals to help streamline care.

Collaboration among health professionals is a key component of the initiative because communication and coordinating patient care is often fragmented. Also, given the higher likelihood of CKM syndrome among people with adverse social drivers of health, the initiative emphasizes screening for social needs. Therefore, collaboration extends to community organizations that address social needs.

"It's important to have a person-centered approach to CKM syndrome," Ndumele said. "The collaborative, team-based care practice, which we're calling the CKM model of care, is an interdisciplinary model that will include primary care clinicians and clinicians from CKM syndrome-related specialties, in addition to patient navigators, social workers, community health workers and others."

With the Association's support, participating organizations will use a learning collaborative approach to meet the initiative's objectives. Representatives from each site will meet regularly to identify goals and plans for implementing a CKM model of care, troubleshoot roadblocks and share best practices.