Over 5 million people in the U.S. have heart failure with more than 650,000 new cases diagnosed each year. An estimated $32 billion is spent each year to treat heart failure, with more than half of that attributed to hospitalizations.

The ACC launched the Succeed in Managing Heart Failure (SIMHF) Initiative, a multi-disciplinary quality program, designed to improve care for heart failure patients. The main focus of SIMHF is to understand the roles that new developments in heart failure treatment and management play in patient care and how to address the practical issues that become barriers to care. By engaging ACC’s clinical experts and collaborating with stakeholders, SIMHF helps define practical issues, as well as create tools and resources to maximize the impact of new heart failure technologies and treatments in improving patient care. The main components of this initiative are:

  • Emerging Strategies for Heart Failure Roundtable: These meetings are designed to engage a wide group of experts and relevant stakeholders to examine the practical barriers and gaps in care and/or knowledge. The goal is to draw on the collective experience and wisdom of participants to identify issues and inform the development of ACC’s practical guidance for clinicians in areas where evidence may be limited, new and evolving, or lack sufficient data to fully inform clinical decision making.  Watch the videos from the recent Roundtable discussion panels addressing the still unanswered questions about heart failure and charting a new path forward.
  • Heart Failure Clinical Topic Collection: A dedicated page featuring relevant news articles, case challenges, and clinical resources to provide a centralized source for clinicians to find the latest clinical information and perspectives related to heart failure.
  • Patient Resources: Educational materials and tools developed to increase patient engagement and improve the patient-clinician dialogue are available in the CardioSmart Heart Failure resource center.
  • Heart Failure Discussion Guide: This guide was created to help guide conversations between clinicians and patients about heart failure treatments in order to optimize outcomes.

The Succeed in Managing Heart Failure Initiative is supported by Novartis.