American Heart Association Acquires Cardiometabolic Center Alliance to Transform Integrated Care

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 two organizations with closely aligned missions focused on comprehensive risk reduction and improving quality of care for patients with cardiometabolic disease. The partnership represents a significant advancement in how healthcare systems approach interconnected conditions that affect millions of Americans.

The CMCA originated as a bold initiative from Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., under the medical direction of Mikhail Kosiborod, M.D. The program was established 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 together rather than addressing conditions separately. This team-based, comprehensive care model specifically tailored to each patient has been recognized in top medical journals and adopted by healthcare systems nationwide.

Since launching in 2020, the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance has witnessed increasing demand to expand its collaborative team-based care model. According to Melissa Magwire, RN, MSN, CDCES, program director of the CMCA, members have contributed substantially to advancing the mission of improving lives for those with cardiometabolic disease. The partnership with the American Heart Association now provides opportunity to expand and scale these efforts to help more people live longer, healthier lives through resources available at https://www.heart.org.

The established collaborative relationship between the Heart Association and CMCA will enhance development of a Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Center of Excellence certification program. 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, described this as a rare opportunity to optimize synergy between the organizations and combine efforts for greater impact. CMCA leadership will transition to committee and staff roles at the American Heart Association, ensuring continuity of the innovative care model that has demonstrated statistically significant improvements in quality of care and clinical outcomes.

Initial data shows that under this integrated care model, rates of optimal guideline-directed medical therapy substantially increased over national averages, ensuring patients with Type 2 diabetes receive care aimed at both optimizing diabetes management and providing comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction with proven therapies. This acquisition represents a significant step toward transforming how interconnected health conditions are managed through patient-centered, team-based approaches that address the whole person rather than individual conditions in isolation.